I’ve been really into coconut recently. I’ve been eating snack pots for convenience, but today I decided to buy it whole. I can’t remember the last time I opened one, but I figured a chisel and hammer would do. After repeated attempts at cracking it open, I didn’t seem to be any further. The next logical decision seemed to involve smashing it into the ground. I figured it would split in two and I could work from there.
That didn’t happen. Instead, it seemed to explode. Most of it had flung a few metres in every direction of our garden. I managed to save some of the pieces that landed face up. This was about a third.
I successfully learned one method in how not to open a coconut that day.
If you’d asked me to tell this story a couple of years ago, I would have probably raised an eyebrow and thought about how strange that would be. Who would be interested after all? Perhaps that’s still true, but what has changed is how I personally perceive it.
Rather than simply seeing it as doing something stupid, I’ve grown an appreciation for the small things that are fun to share with the people we care about most.
After all, what’s a day at the beach without sharing a laugh at the seagull attempting to divebomb on your chips, a family BBQ without burning the sausages, and a camping trip without busting up your nose by tripping over a guy-rope the moment you arrive.
The last example runs a little too close to home, but hopefully you understand where I’m coming from. Although we don’t want or plan for things to go wrong, if it’s something that doesn’t matter, I find it’s often useful to look at the funny side of it.
When I told my girlfriend about the coconut, she suggested that I wrap it in a bag next time before smashing it into the ground. It was a revelation. Why didn’t I think of that?? Quite frankly, I don’t know how I functioned without her..
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