Life is Like a Box of Chocolate…

“Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what your going to get.”

An iconic line from an iconic movie. We all accepted it in the scheme of the movie, seeing life through Forrest Gump’s eyes allowed us to be surprised, see the miracles, and follow our hearts. When we think of Forrest, aside from the simpleness and naivety, we see someone with such heart, with no agenda and no ill will toward anyone. Someone whose only intention seemed to be to make others happy, to love unconditionally and to be loved unconditionally.

What could be different in our lives if we lived more from the heart, saw life as a bunch of small miracles and focused on loving ourselves and others unconditionally? What if, instead of planning every second of every day and focusing on to-do lists and projects, we allowed ourselves to be a little surprised, didn’t always have a plan and didn’t always need to be productive? What if we allowed our heart to guide us more than our heads? If we loved all unconditionally, allowing each person in our life to just be? We don’t have to agree with everything but we also don’t have to judge it. We don’t have to do what others do, we also don’t have to tell people that they are wrong because it is different than us. What if we allowed our friends and family around us to just be, loving them no matter what. And I am even speaking about those who have hurt us, who have given us reason to pause before, those whose ideals are different. What if we treated life like a box of chocolate, just because we don’t like the piece with cherry in it, perhaps others do and that should be okay?

Imagine yourself with no fear in your heart. Imagine yourself with no hate in your heart. Imagine yourself with no hurt in your heart. How much happier could we be if we allowed our heart to just love, to heal and move forward ready to love again. Over the years, I have experienced so much pain in my heart and had trouble healing that hurt. The fear of being hurt again made me stop trying to love anew. In fact dating became a nemesis because I didn’t want to be hurt again. The fear of having my heart stomped on (that is how I have described it) whether it be from a love interest or a friend has kept me from being out there, or from being completely honest with myself about me or others. The fear of being rejected forced me to hold back my truth, as well as not extend myself. Fear has kept me playing small, in my business and in my life.

Breaking through that fear and allowing life to unfold into a life of miracles strung together by faith has been the greatest transformation. I moved from only having faith in myself to having faith in the universe. I moved from fear of failure which looked like over scheduling myself and perfectionism to understanding that growth comes from uncomfortable situations and time to be is just as important as time to do. I created boundaries around my self-care so that it comes first versus pleasing everyone else.

When you begin to view life as a bunch of surprises and miracles, you lose that fear and become overwhelmed with love. Love for others and love for yourself.

Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you are going to get and if you don’t like it, you taste the next piece. Allow those miracles to flow, remove your barriers to enjoying each piece and remind yourself that each day you get to create your life with the support and help of the universe.