the bitter taste

I wonder how many of us out there still remember the anatomy of our tongue? Remember where the bitter taste receptors are located on our tongue? It's at the back of your tongue just before our throats. When I was a kid I used to wonder why we have the bitter receptors at the back of our tongues. I mean it always made swallowing medicines or herbal soup difficult because no matter how hard I tried, there was simply no way to make the bitter stuff go around the bitter receptor area. You just have to taste whatever bitter stuff that you put in your mouth.

I asked my mom once about it and I guess she didn't really know how to answer such a question, especially when the one asking is only 5 years of age. What she told me was really interesting.

"I know how you dislike eating bitter stuff and drinking the bitter ginseng soup I always make for you. Remembered the last time I caught you trying to pour away the soup I boiled? I remembered no matter how hard you tried to squeeze your nose, you'd still taste the bitterness and start going, 'YUCK!' right after drinking my soup.

But there is a reason why all of us taste bitterness on theback of our tongues."

"Why's that?"

"It's God's way of telling us that everyone of us cannot escape from bitterness. As you grow up into a big boy, you will always face difficulties. You can't escape from life's challenges just like you cannot feel happy everyday. Sometimes you feel sad, sometimes you are happy. When you are happy is like when you eat a candy that puts a smile on your faces. And when you are sad is like when you pout every time I make you drink the bitter soup.

No matter how hard you try, there will be days when you are sad and down. That's the bitter part of life and there will be times when you have sweet happy times.

And that's why you have the bitter taste at the end of your tongue just before your throat!"