Box of Chocolates

Everyday in people's lives we struggle. Yes, some struggle more than others, but each personal struggle is their own. These struggles in life, I believe, shape the course of our lives and the direction or paths we take. In my own life, I've had many different struggles and I've told you about most of them, but even now as an adult pushing thirty in a couple years, I struggle. It doesn't seem to be getting any easier. No one said life was easy, actually most people will tell you it's not. However, I always had a vision of what my life would be, and where I'm at now is nowhere near to what I hoped, dreamed, or prayed. Would I change any of my life? My answer is always a resounding NO.

It wasn't always a resounding NO, in fact if you had asked me the same question when I was younger, I probably would have had a long list of changes I would make. Maybe better looking, or taller, or better "endowed", more money, etc. But now, I've come to learn that without all my past experiences, having money, not having money, having things, not having things. These have all made me in the man I am today. And I gotta say, I kinda like it. A lot! I'm not saying I'm proud of all the choices I've made or the experiences I've had, but I don't see the point of regret. Why regret something that is impossible to change? If you have no power to change something in your past, what's the point of dwelling on it and regretting something you did or said, etc?

The past is there for two reasons in my opinion. 1) It's there to remind us of who we know, places we've been, and references to past experiences. 2) It is there for us to learn from our mistakes and hopefully not make the same ones in the future. From what I've seen, people who live in the past generally lack a future. They remain stagnant and bitter. Where as people who live in the present, learn from their past, generally live for the future. They have goals, they have ambitions. Course there is the antithesis to people living in the past, and those are people living in the future. They generally forget to live in the present, always looking forward with out regards to the past. It's like driving a car without any lessons. Sure you'll figure it out eventually, but you'll get into lots of accidents with a chance of killing yourself or someone else without actually getting anywhere. They may have a GPS, but they don't use it. Which are you? A Past-timer, A Present-timer, or a Future-Timer?

In "Forrest Gump" Forrest says "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get." However, in today's society, even the chocolate boxes come with a diagram picture of the chocolates under the wrapping with a detailed descriptions of the flavor. That way there are no surprises. Which true also in life these days. There is so much information about jobs, people, that really do know what you're gonna get. So I guess the saying is still true, but should be modernized to say "Life is like a box of chocolates, pick what you like, and leave the rest for others to enjoy." I suppose people are just better informed and can make informed decisions. Nothing wrong with that, right?

Well I suppose that is all for now. Sorry for the delay in posts, just haven't had much inspiration and been busy trying to find a job since I moved back from Denmark. I'll try to keep up with them. :-) Cheers!