"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through
experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition
inspired, and success achieved." - Helen Keller
Have you ever ironed a rumbled shirt, or have you ever placed a hot iron on your skin by mistake and could you tell the difference, and outcome between, the hot iron on your skin and on the rumpled shirt? No doubt you have. Someone said, "Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars". Do you ever wonder what would happen if you attempted to eat a bowl of rice raw? And what finally happens when you put that rice into water, and through fire; I'm sure your mouth is watery right now as you remember the most delicious meal of rice you had sometime, as you read this line. You're not alone.
Have you ever admired a bowl of nicely, diced or chopped fruits in a fruit salad? Can you for a moment see a mental picture; like you had one in front of you this morning. Do you know what "properly" cooked beans, with beautifully fried (and ripe) plantain tastes like - I apologize to those who don't quite fancy beans - take your mind off of your distaste for beans a while and focus on the process all these delicacies go through, before they come out what the are meant to be. That's where I like to dwell this morning.
I don't know what it is you're battling, grappling or fighting with in your life. Does it feel like you're in the boxing ring with life and life seems to have knocked your teeth out, left your eyes swollen and lips busted? Does it feel like life has sliced and diced you so bad that you're now in tiny little meaningless chunks? Do you feel like the rice, the water is
