Life is Like a Box of Chocolates

I never quite understood the saying, "life is like a box of chocolates" until I really started thinking about it.
The more I pondered the similarities and differences between the complexities of life and a colourful, fun shaped box of assorted treats, the more I realised that Forest Gump's Momma had it right.

Initially I found the saying ridiculous. I figured that life isn't like a box of chocolates at all. A box of chocolates comes with a picture guided legend of all the assorted chocolates held within. Therefore you always knew what you were going to get, and you could separate the chocolates easily.

-Separate the chocolates you cannot eat because of any dietary restrictions and the ones you simply find disgusting, or are not willing to risk trying and put rejected chocolates in a pile
-Eat the rest

You now have a choice of what to do with the rejected chocolates:
A) Throw rejected chocolates in the trash
B) Leave the rejected chocolates for your siblings; feigning thoughtfulness
C) Leave the rejected chocolates in a dish until you have company and let your guests take their chances

Now, however, after a few hours sitting awake in the middle of the night while my cats play never ending rounds of tag across my bed, I have realised that the initial statement "life is like a box of chocolates"couldn't be more accurate.

It occurred to me first while I mentally dissected a box of chocolates.
Take the chocolate that has the widely spread reputation of "worst chocolate ever": The chocolate covered Maraschino cherry.
For me, this chocolate represents- School.
Don't get me wrong, i didn't always hate school, in fact for years I loved it, and looked forward to it. As I aged however, and found all the cracks and issues with my current education system, that love has turned to repulsion. Just like the Maraschino Cherry.
As a child I delighted in getting the chocolate covered cherry. Cherries are delicacies, a treat, everyone loves them, and I felt very fortunate to always be given what I perceived as the best chocolate. I see now that I was given that chocolate because I was the only one who didn't know better than to love it. Now, even the thought of biting into one makes me cringe and gag- Just like the thought of school.

The Coconut filled chocolate represents - Environmental factors.
Coconut filled smells great, looks good, even tastes pretty good most of the time, but it's the texture and the lasting after taste that makes your teeth feel fuzzy that makes most people throw this particular chocolate away. This chocolate is everything that looks nice, and turns out to bite us in the end. Things like weather, or roommates, independence and materialism. Take getting a car, it's great, you're free to go wherever you want, whenever you want but you have to pay insurance, and buy gas and pay for maintenance and repairs etc.

The Chocolate covered wafer represents- Your job/ work or career.
For me this chocolate is the most deceiving. Looks amazing, like solid chocolate, then you bite into it to discover it's not what you thought.
I go in to work in the mornings loving my job, but when I take a bite out of my day, I realise my love for this job is an illusion and end up wishing I could just keep the sweet sugary part of my day and toss out the rest.

Then there are the nut filled chocolates- the untouchables.
That is, for someone with an allergy or restriction to eating nuts.
This is the chocolate that represents friends, family and acquaintances. You can't do anything about them, they're always there and will always in the box or at the party. Get used to it, just learn to keep you distance.
Unfortunately "I'm allergic to you" doesn't work when trying to keep ones' distance from another person.

Finally there's the pure chocolate piece. Dark chocolate, white chocolate, milk chocolate or swirl, either way it's pure and there are no surprises. This one piece (it's rare and everyone fights over the same chocolate) represents -the moments we never want to give up.
These moments are more valuable than gold, and the way people fight over this lone chocolate it might as well be made of gold.
This chocolate is the moments that we will remember forever, the ones that don't come by everyday. These are moments we want to share with our friends or keep to ourselves as a private secret from the world.
Moments like the first time you got butterflies looking at your crush, your first tentative kiss with your partner, a time when you told a joke that made an entire room fall to their knees crying with laughter, the moment you realised a dream had come true or even an unorthodox valentines date.
Remember forever. That's why people save this chocolate for last. They want to remember it, everything about it.

Life IS like a box of chocolates because as much as I wish I could throw out all the undesirable bits like homework and credit card payments, and leave only the best  parts of life like dates nights and family time, it's the moments where you gag at the thought of school work or at the chalky taste of realisation when you discover your job is not what you thought it was, that makes the rare, special moments taste so good!

-Brandolyn

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