On my “Top Ten” list of movies, Forrest Gump ranks very high. This 1994 Tom Hanks film made us laugh, cry and “feel”. For those of you that have never seen the movie, the story was about a mentally challenged person that found himself unwittingly smack in the middle of important events and important people, impacting the lives of various people in meaningful ways. One of the classic lines was when Forrest (played by Hanks) was sitting on a bench waiting for a bus and he offered a candy from a box to a stranger sitting next to him. Forrest recounted a line his mother used to say to him: “Life is like a box of chocolates…you never know which one you will get.”
This line is quite interesting because when we all take a step back and think about “life” in general, the Forrest Gump quote is quite applicable. When we were in our teens and thought about where our professional lives will take us, where we will live, will we be married, how many children/grandchildren will we have: These and many more questions about our “life” were yet to be exactly defined and played out. By a show of hands, how many of you out there are living/have lived a life that played out exactly as you planned? I do not see many hands. So essentially, life is like a box of mixed chocolates…unless you see the chart that details exactly where the different chocolates are, you really do not know what you are going to get. Life? Sort of the same concept.
Here is where this analogy breaks down (You sort of knew this part was coming, right?): When we allow ourselves to be at a weight much higher than what is should be, we sort of know “what we are going to get”: The chronically overweight/obese person will already have or stand a good chance of developing one or a number of weight-related co-morbidities: Joint pains, high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, sleep apnea, cancer, low energy, etc etc etc. Life will NOT be like a box of chocolates. You do kind of know what you will eventually “get”.
Successful weight loss will heighten your chances of knowing you will “get” a healthier and happier life…and provide you more quality time to watch these old movies with your children and grandchildren. Enjoy the iconic movie scene: