As a child, I watched my grandfather eat grapefruit regularly. Eager to be like him, I requested to taste it, and hated it. What was wrong with the man?

A decade and some change later, I’d drastically changed the way I ate to manage my migraines. Processed foods had become a decreasing part of my diet, while natural foods became the foundation, so my taste completely changed. While perusing the grocery store for new foods, I found myself staring at a grapefruit.

Hmmm…

I decided to give it a go.  After all, who knew what would happen?

The next morning I was in for a shocking surprise. I didn’t like it; I loved it. That was six years ago and grapefruit has since become a staple.

When’s the last time you tried something new or something you long ago decided you didn’t like? Your tastes change, if you let them. Expand your palette for life.

I was once a half-hearted fatalist.  Everything happened for a reason, but the undesirable moments were flukes.  “What did I do to deserve this?  There must be some kind of mistake.”  As such, I fully embraced the victim mentality and chose to believe I had little power over outcomes in my life.  I was wading in a pool of uncertainty and insecurity, and downright miserable because of it.

There was, however, a turning point.  Excuse Me, Your Life is Waiting and Conversations With God  destroyed me in a very constructive way.  For the first time, I truly reconsidered my conditioning.  I began to toss out and reconstruct old paradigms, one of which was my idea of personal power.  

Old paradigm: things happen at a fickle and, apparently, cruel God’s whim. 
New paragdim: things outside of our control may happen to us, but our responses to those events matter more than the events themselves. 

Fast forward to several years later and that paradigm is still being refined and intertwined into my behavior.  Intellectually, the concept made sense, but hadn’t yet fully made its way into consistent practice.  I realized I needed to “find the good.”  So I started this blog.  After a few rough starts and several months, I began to live the credo.  Now, I have to find the good, that tranformative element that makes a situation worthwhile: What am I supposed to learn or change?  How can this be of benefit to me or others?

Since discarding the old, whimsical paradigm, I have discovered a sense a power and control in my life that allows me to simulateneously be moved by my own determination while being moved by a power infinitely more intelligent than I.  Neither our stories nor our struggles are our own.  There is a great deal of catharsis and power in sharing your story and supporting others with similar experiences.  

Perhaps you’ve experienced something of great magnitude and pain to deepen your capacity for understanding and healing.  How we use an experience is our choice.  If you believe that everything happens for a reason, finding and creating meaning are one and the same. 

Find the good.

Image source: Honey 77