Healing through food: Ask, you shall receive

Read how to enjoy “Healing through food” series of blogs here.

This is not food, but there is a great lesson and healing that comes with this drink so I’ve decided to write about it. This is an aperitif called Splitz that you would find in any establishment in Italy. Well, I didn’t know about that and I thought it was only available in Venice until the last trip.

Everyone is your friends
Thinking of this drink makes me think about my step-son because of how I was introduced to this drink. We were walking around in Venice when I noticed bunch of young people drinking this orange drink and it fascinated me. It looked great but I didn’t know what it is. This was before I started my soul journey so I was extremely shy, so there was NO WAY I’d go ask them what it is myself.

I asked my step-son if he could go ask. He said “sure” like there is nothing to it and approached those folks who may or may not speak English and asked them what it is. I was in awe. I thought to myself, it must be so freeing to be able to talk to anyone like they are your friend. Somewhere deep in my heart, a seed was planted. I knew that’s what I wanted for myself. So I’ve associated this drink with being friendly and being able to talk to anyone, anytime… This was November of 2016.

You really get what you ask for
Fast forward to October this year, two years after that eye opening experience. I had a chance to go back to Italy with my husband and his family. I was walking through a town in Sicily when I noticed the familiar orange drink on a side of a restaurant. It was a poster of the Splitz. I had forgotten the name of this drink by this time and I also didn’t expect to see it since I assumed I’d only find it in Venice. It felt like I saw my old friend.

Of course, the next restaurant I went in, I ordered it. It brought back memories and I was reminded of how far I have come. I have overcome my shyness to a point that if someone asked me to do what my step-son did 2 years ago, I’d have done that (maybe not as willingly as he did, still work in progress, but I’d be able to do it now).

You never realize how far you have come until you are reminded where you were… I not only was re-acquainted with the drink that I liked, I was reminded that I did receive what I asked for. The freedom to talk to anyone, anytime… I’ve got this now.

What you ask is everywhere if you know what you are looking for
Since then, I realized this drink is literally everywhere in Italy. And not only that, I even found it at a liquor store near our house, and in a restaurant my husband and I happened to run into for lunch… The picture is the drink I ordered here in the US.

For the trip this year, I studied Italian on and off for about 8 months. I did pretty great and I even struck conversation with strangers so I can practice it. Talk about this shy girl 2 years ago! After the trip, I was feeling the need to continue practicing Italian but I haven’t been keeping up with that promise I made to myself when I stumbled upon this restaurant.

The waiter was from South Italy, just across the water from Sicily. He was really friendly and kind to let me and my husband practice speaking to him in Italian. We felt like we traveled back to Italy for that 1 hour we were there eating lunch.

Loving energy I’m sending with this picture is to identify that one tiny thing that make you happy and let it grow and grow. The key is to identify what it is because once you find out what it is, you will find it everywhere. They are all around you lovingly, you just need to be open to find them or for them to find you.