It was your typical college student Tuesday night, hanging out and attempting to study. My friends and I each had our respective books open on our desks, but they were more for show. Instead, we were sitting on the floor with a huge jar of jelly beans and a lot of laughter.
I, being the picky one, was digging out the good jelly beans. You know, the blueberry ones, the grape ones, the watermelon ones. Any fruity jellybean was fair game for me. My roommate, on the other hand, was desperately digging for the black licorice and java jelly beans--which I happen to find gross. Our other friend was the mediator, eating pretty much any and all of the jelly beans. We all tried some new jelly beans, some of which we liked but others... not so much.
Sure, I may think that coffee jelly beans have an odd taste and licorice jelly beans may not be my favorite thing in the world. But what matters is that some people out there love those jelly beans. My roommate is one of those people. No matter how obscure a flavor, no matter how many people say a certain flavor tastes bad, there will be someone out there who calls that flavor their favorite. There's no such thing as a bad jellybean.
No jelly bean is ever unloved, and I think we should remember that when it comes to people, too.
Sure, there may be a person who you don't get along with. Or maybe your personalities clash. Or maybe they just aren't your favorite. But that doesn't make them a bad person. Just like jelly beans, we all have someone who loves us. Maybe we haven't found that person yet, and we'll discover them later. But the person who loves licorice jelly beans is out there.
Not everyone is going to love your flavor, and that's okay. Not every flavor is meant for everyone.
The one thing that truly unites us is when we recognize that every flavor is different and good in its own way, and accept each other just the way we are.
We can't live our lives expecting to always be everyone's favorite. We're human beings; we're imperfect. And that's what makes us amazing.
Some people find their perfect jelly bean flavor early on in life; others take some time. Some people think they've found their flavor when they haven't, and some don't realize they've known it all along.
So if you haven't found your favorite flavor yet, don't worry. There are plenty of people who are still waiting for their flavor, too. And you never know, maybe some person out there in the world is hoping to find you one day, too. You'll find your jelly bean.
