Life is Like a Box of ChoColAtes

I remember when I was a little girl and my dad would bring home a box of chocolates from SEE'S candies for my mom I always thought they looked so yummy and I would take the biggest or the one that looked the best and just take the biggest bite. I can't tell you how many times after that initial bite that I would start gagging, spit half of the chocolate out into the garbage and place the other half back in the box to be eaten by someone else. As time went on I got a little smarter, I would pick up the piece of chocolate that I was contemplating devouring and poke my little finger in the bottom (where noone could see) to check out what was in the middle and decide whether I wanted to eat it or not. This idea was not, however, foolproof and sometimes what appeared to be a delicious pink center would turn out to taste like medicine!! Later in life I just decided that I liked the long, thin ones because usually they are caramel ones that I know I like and they are easy to distinguish amongst all of the other chocolates in the box.
What can we learn from my chocolate experience you may ask?!? Let me put things in perspective for you! My personal feelings are that just as Forrest Gump says "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get", so are relationships. I would venture to say that at some point in our lives all of us have thrown ourselves into a relationship feet first, throwing caution to the wind just like taking any chocolate from the box and taking a big bite not stopping to think about what might be waiting for you once you get to the middle of it. Sometimes we are the ones that come back chewed up and spit out but sometimes it is the other way around. Hopefully we learn from those experiences and we are more selective the next time. I find nothing wrong with digging down to someone's center before deciding if you are going to "take a bite" or not. Any of you who know me know that I partaken of my fair share of "chocolates" in life. Some of them have been those icky kinds that taste like medicine and have left a bitter taste in my mouth. Some, on the other hand, are like the "good" chocolates in the box, not nearly enough and just when you discover that this could be your new favorite, they are gone.
Heavens know I have learned a lot from my experience with both chocolate and men. For instance, I know that I like milk chocolate and I love dark chocolate just as I know that I like boys that are returned missionaries but I love boys who are still actively trying to better themselves, who honor their priesthood,and who are examples to those around them. I know that I like caramels always no matter what just like I know that I like men that can make me laugh and love kids always no matter what!! I know that I like buttercream filling but I don't always have to have it just like I know that I like guys that are taller than me so that I can stand on my tip toes to kiss them but I don't always have to have that. I know that I can not stand any chocolate with a fruit filling just like I don't like fruity guys whose sexuality is questionable!! (Trust me I know better than you might think about this one ;)) I also know that I am always going to be willing to try a new morsel of chocolate if it looks tempting enough just like I know that I will always be willing to put my heart on the line if the guy seems like he is worth it!!!
I don't think that I would change anything or take anything back that I have done in life. I am grateful for the lessons I have learned and although I wish in some cases that there would have been a whole box of my favorite chocolates or a whole lifetime with my favorites I know that I can move on and maybe find something or someone that I like better, even if I don't really want to!!
So I guess Forrest Gump was right, you never know what you are going to get but I know that it is worth the journey.