Not Everything is as it Seems
This morning, I needed to make a honey-lemon elixir for my son who had a sore throat. This has been something my Mom did when I was a kid and what her Mom did when she was younger. Basically, you take 1-2 lemons (or lemon juice if you don’t have lemons) and some honey. Pour into a glass, mix and take a tablespoon throughout the day to help with the sore throat.
Call it whatever you like, we’ve done this for as long as I can remember and it’s been pretty darn helpful. Anyhow, getting back to my point, I had some lemons in my fridge, but when I picked them up, they looked really old and shriveled and it kind of grossed me out. They kind of looked like a cross between the lemon in the middle and on the left of in the photo above. Usually, I would be tempted to just toss it because I figured it was no good anymore. But, for some reason, today, I decided NOT to throw them away. I used 2 of the lemons that were in the fridge and reluctantly cut into them. To my surprise, inside looked plump and it had a LOT of juice. I believe I got a good 1/8 cup out of those 2 lemons.
That got me to thinking…what would have happened had I just tossed them just because of how they LOOKED. I immediately started thinking of the saying, “don’t judge a book by its cover,” and in this instance I was VERY judgmental. How many times have I just discarded lemons because they looked bruised and old on the outside. How sad is that?
Then I started thinking about how our thought process of others can be clouded simply by what we see on the outside. How many times were we so quick to judge someone or something just by the exterior? It’s a sad fact that we all have prejudices, and whether we want to admit to it or not, it’s those prejudices that trigger our initial response to people and things.
Now, I’m not trying to start some back and forth comment war or ruffle any feathers, but think about it. Really think about it. Can you honestly say that you do NOT or have never prejudged someone or something based on either the exterior or past experiences? We’re all guilty of it, myself included. I just talked about it with my lemon story. The point is to really never judge a book by its cover. Pick it up, open some pages, read a few lines. Say hello to that person you’ve been avoiding, ask a couple questions. Attend that overview you’ve been invited to, open your mind and learn something new.
You never know…that thing you’ve been putting off or that person you’ve been avoiding could turn out to be the best thing to ever happen to you.
Think about it…
Diary of a Busy Mom 