“When life is sweet, say thank you and celebrate. And when life is bitter, say thank you and grow.” – Shauna Niequist
I remember learning the term ‘bitter sweet’ and how it related to a particular Shakespearean play during a high school English Literature lesson. About eight years later, I am sitting behind my computer screen, reflecting on what this term means to me.
It seems as though life, in general, can be described as a dance between the bitter and the sweet. The two are always dancing together, one going before the other, sometimes tangling and twisting into one.
So what is bitter, and what is sweet? What is my bittersweet? My bittersweet reality reflects that of a soul who travels the world continually seeking a better bittersweet. I suppose this will be the tale of many that come from that sunshine nation we call Zimbabwe.
Being born in Southern Africa is one of my biggest bittersweet blessings. In Africa, anything is possible, and this possibility and potential are what make life there so bittersweet. One longs to return, but when they arrive, they dream of leaving. How strange?
In the bitterness of the country, we find poverty, unemployment, corruption, racism, hate, greed, starvation, crime. In the sweetness, we find ubuntu, family, home, a sense of belonging, peace, joy, nature, sunshine, contentedness and an overall better ‘internal’ life.
Living abroad also has its bittersweet cup to fill. In bitterness, we find culture shock, homesickness, loneliness, a feeling of otherness, cold weather and rain. In sweetness, we find opportunities, self-reliance, growth, employment and an overall better ‘external’ life. How does one choose which bittersweet is better?
You decide…
“Bittersweet is the idea that in all things there is both something broken and something beautiful, that there is a sliver of lightness on even the darkest of nights, a shadow of hope in every heartbreak, and that rejoicing is no less rich when it contains a splinter of sadness. Bittersweet is the practice of believing that we really do need both the bitter and the sweet, and that a life of nothing but sweetness rots both your teeth and your soul. Bitter is what makes us strong, what forces us to push through, what helps us earn the lines on our faces and the calluses on our hands.”
– Shauna Niequist
Written by Nicole Kerr
Planting Soul Seeds 