Life Is Like Chocolate Covered Green Grapes

Chocolate covered seedless green grapes? Seriously?

Yes! Are you judging this snack by the sound and appearance or have you actually tasted chocolate covered grapes?

Hmmmm…I hear silence. I guess you were pre-judging. Haven’t we discussed that before? Ha!

Not that long ago, I shared one of my favorite snacks, Frozen Seedless Black Grapes. Since posting it, many of you have tried them and now sing accolades about frozen grapes which are now in your freezer. At first mention of “frozen” grapes, however, I know many people wrinkle up their faces in semi-disbelief or smirked in ridicule at such a preposterous idea. I’m sure those people are doing the same thing now when I say Chocolate Covered Green Grapes.

I admit, chocolate and grapes are a different kind of combination, but this fruit explodes sweet juice when you bite into it. So if the green grape is covered with chocolate, the exploding juice is mixed with smooth, creamy chocolate in your mouth and the combination just works!

How Life Is Like Chocolate Covered Green Grapes

Most people won’t ever try dipping green grapes in chocolate even though you can’t deny that the pictures make them look totally delicious and maybe a little sexy. So let me tell you a few undeniably obvious ways that life is like chocolate covered seedless green grapes.

1. Unexpected Things Happen – Chocolate Covered Green Grapes is not a combination that is well known, nor is it a treat that most people would think of when reaching for something sweet. Like me, they think of things like candy bars, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, cake…I must stop, but you get the picture. When you bite into a chocolate covered grape, the flavor is deliciously unexpected! Life is the same way. You don’t know what opportunity the next moment holds. Just like the unexpectedness of a chocolate covered green grape, life can be happy, thrilling, exciting, sad or devastating. You never know what to expect. The best you can do is be open to change, willing to bend, learn and grow with the experience.
2. Opposites Attract – Who would ever guess that a chocolate covered green grape would taste so delicious? I mean, the grape is a juicy, sweet fruit and the chocolate is a smooth, flavorful, semi-sweet confection, so they are very much opposites. However, because a seedless green grape is so different than the smooth chocolate, the combination unexpectedly works. Relationships and life experiences often are the complete opposite of what we plan for or expect. Sometimes we try to fit a round peg into a square hole and it actually fits because opposites attract. Never discount the beauty of the opposites.
3. Little Things Are Enough – Grapes are rather small even in the fruit group. Although their size is small, they have so many characteristics that make them the perfect snack. They are self-contained and small enough to eat all at once. Green seedless grapes are also sweet, very juicy and travel well in the lunch bag. Although small in size, they satisfy the craving for something sweet and something juicy all at once, so they are enough. The same can be said about life. It doesn’t take big things to make life worthwhile. Seriously, it is the little things that bring the most happiness. For example, the scribble artwork of your two year old child adorns the refrigerator for months as if it was a Van Gogh, but to the parents, it is more priceless. Little things are not only enough, but are also extremely satisfying.
4. Thin And Thick Skinned – Some seedless green grapes have thin skin and some have thicker skin, but all are delicious and juicy. People are people, but some are outgoing, independent, motivated and strong, while others are introverted, needy, lack willpower and wimpy. So everyone is human, but everyone is different.
5. They Aren’t The Best – No matter how juicy, sweet and delicious green grapes taste while being smothered with smooth, creamy chocolate, in my opinion, they aren’t ever going to taste as delicious as Krispy Kreme Glazed Doughnuts. With life, we don’t know what is going to happen next, but we do a little of this and a little of that and somehow it all comes together. Being the best at anything or everything isn’t required. Having happiness and enjoying the experience of life is a much better goal. So although I don’t live in the biggest mansion or drive the most expensive car, my life can still be happy.
6. Some People Won’t Like It – Although I have sung the praises of chocolate covered seedless green grapes and splashed delicious looking pictures of them on my blog, some people won’t like the flavor. Maybe they won’t like them because they don’t like green grapes. Maybe they won’t like them because they don’t like chocolate. Maybe they like green grapes and chocolate, but they don’t like the combination of the two. Well, life is like that too. Some people like math (not my mom or daughter, that’s for sure). Some people can sing (definitely not me since I sing like a dying cow) and other people are artistic. We are all different and no matter what we do, some people won’t like it. The good thing about life is that we don’t have to worry about making everyone else happy. Isn’t that just a huge relief?!!!

Let me just comment a little bit more on #1 which stated that unexpected things happen. When I started getting a painful rash on my face, staying sick in my stomach day in and day out, had a headache more frequently than not, and gained a ton of weight, I had no idea that a grain allergy was causing all the problems. The inflammation in my aging body was outrageous all because of grain!

Believe me, when I heard the news that, “You are allergic to all grain with wheat and corn being the worst,” I was in shock and devastated. How could a bread loving, cake baking, candy eating redhead give it all up? Besides that, how could I live without a whole food group?!!! I thought that I would die, but I have since learned differently. I may feel like I’m going to die because I can’t eat my original dishes that include Healthy & Moist Baked Apple Blueberry Oatmeal or Overnight No-Cook Refrigerator Oatmeal Muesli for breakfast, but the truth is that if I eat them, I will suffocate to death. Yes, my throat will constrict and maybe the next time it happens I won’t be so lucky to have it relax in time to give me enough air to live. So really, what alternative do I have than to learn to bend, change and find happiness in other foods?

Well, it is hard to stay positive, but I keep telling myself that it has only been a few months since my diagnosis. I really shouldn’t be so hard on myself because it takes courage to make a dramatic lifestyle change. There have been so many positive effects of giving up the grain. For instance, all the water retention and swelling has completely disappeared. The weight that kept packing itself all over my body in equal portions keeps falling off of me WITHOUT exercise. How great is that?!!! All I do is take walks, but no jumping jacks or anything like it. No one even realized how much weight I had gained because I’m rather tall and the weight was an all over thing, but believe me, I’ve lost a ton of weight. Not too many more pounds and I will almost weigh what I weighed before I got pregnant with Alyssa twenty years ago. Giddy up, Yippee and High Five all at once Baby!

Obviously, there are positives in just about every situation and we can learn something if we are open to learning. I can’t promise that I won’t complain about this grain thing or that I won’t shed a tear when I look at glorious wheat flour, but I feel so much better that I have to be thankful for finally finding out the cause of my sickness and for how great I feel.

By the way, I hate to disappoint you this time, but I ate all the chocolate covered seedless green grapes while writing this post. Next time if you want some goodies, you’ll just have to come help me in the kitchen! There’s still a little bit of warm, melted chocolate left. Do you want to come over and help me lick it off the sides of the bowl?