This past week I was traveling back home from a conference. It’s been almost six months since the passing of my dad and he had really been in my mind and heart over the last few days. As I was walking to my gate for my flight, I saw a candy shop. I smiled because my dad had a major sweet tooth. I stopped in to browse and I noticed they had Peanut Brittle which was my dad’s favorite. I bought some and it made me smile as I thought about how excited he would be about peanut brittle!
As I sat at my gate I FaceTimed my 6 year old granddaughter and as I was talking to her I showed her the bag of Peanut Brittle and asked if she knew what it was? She said no so I proceeded to tell her what it was and that it was Papa’s favorite. Then came this awesome lesson. She asked, “What does it taste like?” I began to tell her what it had in it and she stopped me and asked, “No, what does it taste like to you?”
How often are we so curious about how someone else experiences something, tastes something that we want to know, “What does it taste like to YOU?”
A beginners mind, and a desire to really understand someone else. What if we approached more of our life with this mindset and instead of interpreting people and assigning our own perspective we were curious enough to ask and want to know how the other person sees it? Instead of wanting to be right, we were just curious about really seeing someone and listening with pure wonder.
So what does peanut brittle taste like to me? It’s sweet and not too sweet, it’s crunchy and sticks in your teeth and yet melts in your mouth and the peanuts are coated in the sweet sugar substance that has a hint of vanilla. How about you?