Life Lesson #6: Of A Banana (and some worms)

As I am on the couch getting my daily dose of CNN, I feel this sudden urge to randomly browse through some sites and update myself on my friends' activities.

I see a simple update message. One word that expresses more than 7 simple letters. One word that carries a message of sorrow and regret.

Have you ever felt betrayed when you've been in something for such a long time and suddenly discovered that it wasn't what you thought it to be?

Something like that happened to me once. I must've been about 9 or 10 at that time.

I was peeling a banana in the backseat of my car. 

Halfway through the banana, I discovered some white things moving in the banana.

They.... were.... maggots. And there was a clump of them, right in the centre of the banana. The banana I was eating.

First thought: EWWW!!!!!! I don't know what made me manage to wrap up the rest of the banana and put it in a plastic bag. I might've just thrown it out the window.

Since that incident, I've been really apprehensive of bananas. I avoid bananas at all costs. Every time I peel a banana, I expect to see maggots wriggling in it.

This fear has induced me to hate bananas. This unexplained phobia of bananas sometimes annoys my family members.

Back to modern-day me.

An incident that occured recently reminded me of something very important in life.

Although bananas aren't exactly very prominent in my life, I did use to like it. It was healthy, tasty, and most importantly, had potassium - which allows people to be more mentally-energized.

I told myself it'd be silly to mistrust all bananas for eternity just because one of them happened to have maggots in it - even if it is totally gross.

The same held for this incident. It wasn't a biggie in my life or anything, and even though not a lot of people noticed, I had been down in the dumps for about a week following the incident. I buried myself in work.

As much as we'd like to convince ourselves otherwise, there are some things and people in life that we just like to have around for company.

When you find out a person is not what you think he/she is, what does one do?

One can break off all ties. 

One can attempt to distance him/herself.

One can attempt to pretend nothing happened.

Or, one can choose to express her insecurities and opinions, and hope to exercise change. Which is what I tried to do.

I doubted my decision after the first few days; I was a naturally straightforward person, so some of the things I did could've been overboard for others.

Now, though, I do not regret that decision one bit.

I got an answer. I got an assurance. I got a promise of change.

Only time will tell if my restored trust is worthwhile.

But for now, I shall trust my instincts and blog on.

Just as I have learned to drop my prejudice against an innocent piece of fruit, I should also learn to regain trust when one has been proven worthy of it.