When you are learning, changing and growing, the process is often compared to peeling away the layers of an onion. You may think you're done when you get through one layer, but there it is, another layer that is ready to be peeled back.

I remember once asking a workshop leader whether I'd be "done" once I healed from a particular issue. The answer was swift: "No." He went on to explain that life is a process; living it means that we continue to learn, change and grow.

However, I think that the cabbage is a better analogy for this process. The layers in an onion are concentric and evenly spaced; they're easily peeled off, too.

At times, personal growth can be as easy as peeling off a layer of onion. However, there are many layers that are difficult to peel away, which is more apparent in the structure of a cabbage. The undulating, tightly-grouped layers reveal surprises - sometimes good, sometimes bad. You don't know what you'll find until you get there. Those layers also reveal growth.

Perhaps, the personal growth comparison to the onion has more to do with the tears than the layers?

What do you think? Onion or cabbage?