Box of Chocolates

"My momma always said, "Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."-Forrest Gump

I don't know whether it's the diet or the looming holiday, but boxes of chocolates have been on my mind lately and I'm pretty sure Mrs. Gump got it right. Life really is like a box of chocolates, full of surprises. Some of them are good. And then some of them are coconut and, in my book, that's not so great.

Yes, I'm about to be philosophical about your heart-shaped chocolate sampler. I have done an exhaustive contemplation on the deeper meanings of square vs. round chocolates. My mind is a mysterious place so stay with me.

LESSONS LEARNED FROM A BOX OF CHOCOLATES
(it looks really important if you put it in ALL CAPS):
1. Know what you're looking for.
My chocolate sampler goals are simple: find the caramel, avoid the coconut. And I'm a planner, so here's my thoroughly scientific approach to devastating a box of chocolates: sample a few, find the happy chocolate, and try to repeat by choosing similar colors and shapes. It's difficult to argue with science, right? Sometimes I'll be right, sometimes I'll be wrong but still happy with what I discover, and sometimes I'll hit something I wasn't looking for. It's inevitable.
2. Have a strategy for when it all goes wrong.
What happens when you hit one of the surprises? You've planned carefully, chosen strategically, and still you end up with a raspberry filling instead of creamy caramel. In my world, even bad chocolate is better than no chocolate, so I soldier on, looking for caramel in the next one. I guess you could also throw that disappointment away or...even worse, just put it right back in the box. The surprises in life can be the same way: make it through and learn the lessons from that disappointment to make a better choice next time, suffer through and pretend it never happened, or maybe leave a mess for someone else to clean up...we have choices about what we do with the surprises that we never wanted.
3. When you have a map, use it!
Have you gotten those boxes with the little maps showing the shape and location of your heart's desire: that one chocolate you were looking for? I love those boxes, don't you? I don't have to rely on my sketchy scientific method or dumb luck. I can follow the map and trust the mapmaker to show me where what I want most sits. Thank goodness for the map. On the outside, so many of the choices look the same, but that map means I can find what I'm looking for.

With life, we don't really want a box of chocolates, a sampler made up of variety and surprise. We would rather just pick and choose the kinds of surprises we'd accept: winning the lottery would be a yes, but illness would be a definite no. But we don't have that option, do we? The thing about the life we lead is that we have a promise that, no matter how many surprises there are, that box of chocolates is going to be good. And we have a map that we can choose to follow. We have a promise from the one shaping our lives that His plans include a hope and a future. And in Romans 8:28, Paul wrote, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

So here's what I know: I want to follow the map. We've been given God's word, wisdom, and spirit to navigate this world. We'll find what we're looking for if we stick with the map. And, in the end, God's working out His plan. I'm really the only one surprised, and I can trust that something sweet is going to come out of it, coconut surprises and all.

Visit me at It's Not About Cheryl where I'm sure I'll analyze the philosophical meaning of other diet no-no's soon