A Box Of Chocolates

Two Time Oscar Award Winning Actor Tom Hanks once said, ~As long as you an individual...can convince yourself that in order to move forward as best you can you have to be optimistic, you can be described as 'one of the faithful', one of those people who cay say, 'Well look something's going to happen. Let's just keep trying. Let's not give up.~ In some aspect, life can most certainly be compared at times to a number of Tom Hanks movies we've all grown to love and enjoy watching or should I say continue to watch over the years. Essentially, you can't help but love the guy because he can do nothing wrong in my honest opinion. Thinking about it further, there are indeed metaphorical lessons regarding life when it pertains to a particular movie starring one of THE most likable actors today, especially involving the following three movies: Cast Away, Big, and Sleepless and Seattle.

Without a doubt, the movie Cast Away has that innate metaphorical comparison regarding the connection to our circle of friends and how life can have each one of us isolated in our own deserted island, so to speak. You see, as adults we definitely lead busy lives to the point where the strong friendships we've established tend to be lacking in the verbal and not to mention physical interactions, thus turning ourselves into a quintessential hermit-like individual. However, even though we voluntarily isolate ourselves we can always count on the fact we have our own Wilson the volleyball otherwise known as one truest of best buds/gal pals/family to welcome us with open arms no matter how long we've been gone. Let me tell you something, even though Wilson sadly drifted away, it doesn't mean the people you forged deep bonds with will never drift away.

As I said before, there are indeed metaphorical lessons regarding life when it pertains to a particular movie classic such as Big. The premise is Tom's character starts out as a 12 year old young boy who wishes "to be big" and it comes true thanks to a fortune telling machine Zoltar thus putting him on a seemingly fun path of adult self discovery leading him to become a responsible working adult. Sadly, he can't handle the overwhelming pressure and finds Zoltar once again granting his wish to return to the 12 year old young boy much to the joy of his mother. If you think about it, we've all as kids dreamed of wanting to become adults but without all the responsibilities and hardships that come with it like paying bills for instance. If only. Unfortunately, real life doesn't work out that way trying to wish our adults selves back to that happy go lucky 12 year old kid back in the day. Hey, I've tried it many times but to no avail.

Let me ask this question to those who have seen the movie Sleepless In Seattle starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, what was Jonah Baldwin's purpose in regards to his father Sam Baldwin? The answer is to have his father fall in love again and he would end up finding it with Meg Ryan's character Annie Reed at the top of the Empire State Building. In a sense, we're all hoping in life to one day or once again meet/find that special someone at the top of our own version of the Empire State Building. Granted, it may not be elaborate as an 8 year old calling Dr. Marsha Fieldstone on the radio to find his father a new wife but still. Of course, the Jonah Baldwins in our life representing our friends/family believe they have the best of intentions trying to set us up with so-called perfect matches that end up not so perfect half the time. Yet, they love/care about us enough to want us to have true happiness and be with someone who can have each one of us smiling because of a million magical tiny things that make him/her absolutely perfect.

In retrospect, life is a mixed bag of Tom Hanks movies that are deeply metaphorical if you really sit back and look at it from a totally different perspective. Life lessons such as patiently waiting pays off from the movie The Terminal. Deal with new changes/challenges in your professional/personal life that have you at odds and "fighting like a dog" such as in the movie Turner and Hooch. In the Toy Story trilogy, no matter where or how old you are you've always got your friends when you need them no matter how far they are even to infinity and beyond. The lesson of teamwork and having that never give up failure is not an option mentality when all seems lost in Apollo 13. Ultimately, THE best life lesson is from Forrest Gump. In the end, life truly is like a box of chocolates and even though you have no idea what's in store when you open it you just have to take what it gives/hands you and make a positive out of a negative.