There is more to a pickle than meets the eye. Sure, there are different types of pickles. You have sour, sweet, dill, kosher, and others. However, it is important to note here that before a pickle became a pickle it was something else entirely in a previous life before becoming a pickle. It was, yes you guessed it, a cucumber! Duh!
For a cucumber to become a pickle, it has to go through a change process. A cucumber is submerged in a liquid solution that will penetrate and fill the cucumber with its particular characteristics. For a pickle to be sweet or sour, the solution is made up of those ingredients. Once a cucumber is placed into this solution for an extended period of time it absorbs the liquid, thus changing its content and nature. We call this fermenting process, being pickled. Alas, the cucumber becomes a pickle, and in doing so can never go back to being just a cucumber. It is something altogether different.
Life has a way of being like that jar filled with pickling agents. We go through life being impacted by the outward things that seep in. We too go through a type of pickling process. However, unlike the cucumber which cannot control the pickling process, we have the means by which we can control what we allow to seep in and impact our lives.
It can be the company we keep, the job we have, the neighborhood in which we live, the things we indulge ourselves in, the mindset we choose, what we have our focus on, the attitudes we embrace, the condition of the heart we maintain. The list is endless.
Signs of you going through a pickling process are when your mood has changed. More depressed, anxious, or angry. More opinionated than usual. More vocal than before, and not in a good way. Your actions might be of withdrawal, aggressiveness toward others and your thoughts may be more dark, sinister, or suicidal.
If people start to tell you that you seem different, and not in a good way, or that you feel that you have changed from who you want to be, then it is time to take stock of what ingredients that you have submerged yourself in. What influences can you identify? And what do you plan to do about it?
You see, unlike the cucumber that has no say in the matter, you and I do! It is all about choices and how those choices can be supported.
Have someone that you trust know they have your permission, to be honest, and speak up if you start acting out of the ordinary if that change is in the negative. And, if someone does speak up, take heed and determine if they just might be right. If they are, find out what is causing you to change and address it. You may not be able to do it alone so surround yourself with good people.
In the end, each of us has the ability to determine what kind of individual we strive to be. At our core, what we believe, in whom we believe, and in how we believe will form the basis that will fortify ourselves from turning into, PICKLES!
Until next time, we wish you LOVE, JOY & PEACE!
Brad & Yvonne Adams
