Yeah, yeah - "Life is like a box of chocolates - you never know what you're gonna get." Whatever Forrest. Whitman's tells you exactly what you're going to get. In fact, a lot of times we do know exactly what we're going to get, we just don't want to take responsibility for it. Gasp - I didn't know I was going to go broke! Gasp - I didn't know I was going to get so fat! Gasp - I didn't know he was going to hit me again! Gasp - I didn't know! I didn't know! Yeah, deep inside, you did. You knew that you should save, but you chose not to. You knew that if you kept eating so much and not exercising you would get fat. You knew the abuser would hit you again. Not always, but more than we want to admit, we know exactly what we're gonna get.
And the worst thing that happens with a box of chocolates? You bite into one you don't like. Life can deal you a much harder blow than that! Many of us WISH life was like a box of chocolates.
Forrest Gump is an idiot.
Not so fast.
Think about how most of us approach a box of chocolates. We're excited - we can't wait to dive in and try some. We open it with a sense of wonder - thinking of all the possibilities it might contain. Caramels, nuts, chocolate covered cherries, truffles - what delights will we find within? Few of us are thinking, "Oh crap - what hellish thing might I bite into?" We're not thinking about closing it up and staying in bed - we're going in!
If we could approach life like a box of chocolates - thinking of everyday as a new box - filled with possibilites - 24 hours in which something wonderful could happen - how much happier would we be? After all, the past really is over - what's done is done - we can only move forward from where we are. And each day really is a new chance to be and have whatever we want.
Forrest Gump is a genius!
Um...maybe not.
The decisions we made yesterday do impact us today. We can learn from them, take responsibility and make better choices. (We can avoid the orange cream or we can stop eating BEFORE we want to puke.) At the same time we can recapture our sense of hope and wonder - and realize that each day can be better for us. Something wonderful can happen.
Forrest Gump is Forrest Gump and life is life - each person's will be different and unlike any other. But many times you do know exactly what you're gonna get. (Just make sure some of it is chocolate.)
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