You Should Be Happy Life is Like Playdough and Not a Box of Chocolates
Stop quoting Forrest Gump as if he was a genius.
Forrest Gump was not a misunderstood genius.
He only impressed us all in 1994 because of the childlike optimism he clung to during his personal odyssey over thirty years of American history. Even a slow-witted simpleton can sound like an authority on life given the right cinematic atmosphere.
Throughout the movie, Forrest imparts short nuggets of supposed wisdom that seem to reflect his adventurous life’s journey. The most memorable originally coming from his mother.
Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get.
But what Gump and his mom fail to realize is their assumed wisdom is misguided inspiration at best. It merely preys on your fears of life’s uncertainties.
So don’t embrace Forrest Gump’s attempt at metaphor as insightful guidance. It’s much too obscure for that.
Pass on the box of chocolates.
If you feel the need for any life-inspiring metaphor, consider playdough instead of chocolates. You can create anything your heart desires with a ball of playdough and enough creativity and perseverance.
Just as a five-year-old has to work at molding his playdough into the dinosaur or car of their dreams, you get to wake up every morning and work at transforming your life into something equally spectacular. And you get to choose what that looks like for you.
You have the opportunity to create anything you put your mind to making.
Your choices matter.
There are very few things that happen in life that are not tied to your own decisions and choices. Your circumstances are not as random as Forrest would lead you to believe.
Every single choice you make determines what you get out of life and where you end up. If you don’t like your present circumstances, you can make different choices. It’s that easy and that difficult.
Our lives are a sum total of the choices we have made. — Wayne Dyer
So make good choices.
Find yourself a mentor.
If you could do anything, what would it be? Who’s already doing it?
The easiest way to find the blueprint you need to reach your goals is to find someone who’s already done it, built it, created it, or achieved it and do what they did. Use the plan they used.
It doesn’t mean you necessarily need to speak to your mentor. It does mean you need to do your own research into how they became successful though. What steps did they take?
- Want to write a novel? Find someone who’s already done it. How did they accomplish it?
- Want to make handcrafted wooden furniture? Find a woodworking artist who’s done it. How’d they get started? What tools did they use? What wood?
- Want to build an online business empire? Again, find someone who’s already done it. Have they written a book on their experiences? If yes, read it! Or read anything else they might have written. Listen to interviews they’ve done.
Create the future you want by finding others who’ve already molded their own playdough into masterpieces.
“Passive decision making” doesn’t really exist.
Decision making involves you consciously or subconsciously choosing something, or someone, or some path over others.
Refusing to decide is still a choice you make. It only feels like a passive one — or easy one, or lazy one — because you believe avoidance isn’t an active choice. But don’t be fooled. Refraining to decide what you’ll do or say will still come with some sort of consequences.
Choosing not to act is still a choice made.
The questions you need to answer for yourself are,
- Do you want to passively allow others or the universe to decide whether you get to achieve your dreams?
- Or will you actively create what you want in life by purposefully deciding which choice will get you closer to your goals and act on it?
Forget the chocolates and grab the playdough.
Just because you like someone — Forrest Gump, your mother-in-law, Whiskers, your cat — doesn’t mean you should follow their advice. Inspiring words don’t always equate to life-changing guidance.
You don’t need to accept your circumstances like a box of random chocolates, never knowing what’s coming next.
Choose to actively create the life you want by making choices every day to drive you toward the future you most desire.
Decide to think of life like playdough. And mold the future of your dreams.
