Bitterness awakens the tongue. 

Sourness sharpens the memory. 

Sweetness is the wisdom that returns

Returning to sweetness is rarely a straight path. 

Before we arrive at that place of peace, comfort, love, and quiet joy, we often have to pass through the bitter and the sour. Life presents us with disappointing moments, mistakes, and experiences that force us to pause and look inward. These moments cause us to reflect, to remember, to reconsider who we are and what we want from the road ahead. 

Sometimes they ask us to change. Sometimes they ask us to make decisions that are not easy. We find ourselves creating walls where protection is needed, or having conversations that reveal truths we had been avoiding. These encounters shape us and refine the way we move through the world. 

After reflection and honest conversation, I begin to walk again, down the path, down the road, along the quiet sidewalk of my own becoming. Slowly I  approach a place that feels softer. This is a place of peace and comfort where love and understanding return, a place where the emotions remind me of sweetness. 

The bitter and sour moments are not meaningless detours. They are the speed bumps, rocky paths, hills, and mountains that we must climb. When I reach the peak of those emotions, I  gain perspective. From that height, I can look out into the horizon, reflect, think clearly, release what no longer belongs to me, and decide what must change. 

Once the summit is reached and assessments are made, it is at that point, standards are set. I build the walls that protect me and tear down the walls that kept me small. As I  look back at the path traveled I  am able to move forward with courage into transformation.

The climb is not punishment. It is preparation. 

And when sweetness returns, it carries wisdom with it.