Fortune Cookie Wisdom

I recently ate a fortune cookie after having some take out Chinese food. I love the crunchiness of these cookies. I love the bland sweetness of these cookies. It is almost as if these cookies are satisfied with just being crispy and a little sweet. They are not worried about being the most chocolaty or the oooey-gooeiest cookies around. They are happy to fill their spot in the cookie hierarchy.

Of course, hidden inside these little cookie gems you find a tiny slip of paper with some mystical advice or premonition written on it. When fortune cookies were first made, how long did the inventor think about this aspect of the cookies? Did he think people were really missing out on paper filled food? Did he think as long about what exactly he would write on these little papers? Is there some little old lady in the back room of the fortune cookie factory consulting her tarot cards to conjure up these niblets of advice? It all makes me think.

My cookie's message was this: "Don't look back. Always look forward."

I tell our walking carpool kids this same thing, all the time. In fact I go so far as to tell them that they "have eyes on the front of your face for a reason. Please walk facing front so you don't get hurt/fall down/get run over/ insert your own danger here." This remark generally comes after I observe them walking backwards or looking back over their shoulders while walking frontwards or walking with the eyes closed in any direction. Sometimes it is because they are distracted by something shiny/metallic/dead they happened to see in the grass/gutter/trees or bushes as we were walking. Our carpool group is five boys ranging in age from preschool through sixth grade, so they are easily distracted anyway. And they don't always think about what they are doing, as they do it. They NEED the reminder.

Aside from walking home from school applications of this gem of cookie wisdom, I have thought about what that message really means to me. "Don't look back. Always look forward." Looking back doesn't really change things. You can't alter the past. You hope you can learn from the things you do--good and bad--and make better decisions from that increased knowledge base. Looking forward sounds like a hope-filled and positive-thinking kind of way to see the world. When I look forward to something it usually means something fun, or good, or exciting is coming. I wish for that event to happen. I want to be there when it does. That sounds pretty good.

Synthesizing this message, then, I need to learn from what I have been through, experienced, or attempted and then, based on what I learned from all that, I can look toward the future with hope and anticipation and feel good about it.

Is it me? Or do you see it too? Doesn't that sound like something called the "Plan of Happiness"?

I received this plan from a loving Heavenly Father and get to keep trying to better my choices because of a merciful Savior. When I learn from my mistakes, or any past experiences, I can look forward with joy and hope to a better way of life to come.

I had no idea that Fortune Cookies, when boiled down to it, are bite sized Gospel treats sent out into the world. Do you think the missionaries could use these cookies in their teaching? Maybe I could try it in Family Home Evening next week. Either way, I think I am a little hungry for Chinese food. How about you?