A difficult or unwanted thing can turn out to be a great gift. Frequently, we receive unknown gifts in disguise.There is a powerful story of a young king who took over the kingdom. After the coronation there was a knock at the door. A shabbily-dressed man wanted to see the king. He had brought a gift of melons. The king hated melons.

He thanked the man. He gave the melon to his servant to throw out in the back garden. One evening, just as the old man was about to hand a melon to the king, a monkey jumped down in a portico in the palace and knocked the melon from the old man’s hand.

The melon shattered in pieces. The king looked and witnessed a shower of diamonds flying from the heart of the melon. Eagerly he checked the back garden. There, all the melons had melted around a hillock of jewels

The moral of this is sometimes awkward situations, problems, or difficulties are really disguised as opportunities for growth. Very often at the heart of the difficulty there is the light of a great jewel. It is wise to embrace with hospitality that which is awkward and difficult.

When I read this story, the lesson within unfolded for me in an “aha” moment. Colorado was the melon – oh how I detested melons. For five year’s, I have lived a hermetic existence. With the passage of five years, the melon opened up and brought forth an immeasurable life.

The abundance of remarkable people crossed my path daily. Gratitude springs from my lips. The melon which I had an aversion to became my lifeline. My life is joyful and rich. Colorado, for me, is a Mecca of bliss.