Life Lessons from a Fortune Cookie

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Back in 2005, I opened a fortune cookie that read:

Be patient, and what's best will soon be yours; however, sometimes not getting what you want may be precisely what you need.

I don't remember the meal or exactly where I was when I pulled that little paper slip out of a fortune cookie, but I do know it was my senior year of college and I was going through a break-up, didn't have a post-graduation job yet (okay, it was still the fall, but things were different then!)... and even though I thought I knew what I wanted, life was telling me otherwise.

Be patient.

And it was true.  Everything fell into place with time and work and patience.  I learned about myself, what I wanted and didn't want, how to be strong and how to make mistakes.  I found that I have an amazing support system of friends and family.  I discovered that what I want may not happen right away—or ever—but that life was good and wonderful things would come my way, things I couldn't even imagine.

I've kept that quote ever since as a reminder to be patient, to trust, to have faith.

Yesterday in church, the Gospel included the phrase "Be not afraid; just have faith." It was what I needed to hear, just like that fortune cookie when it came at the perfect time.

And what's best will soon be yours.

When it comes down to it, to think that what's best is still ahead in my life is super exciting.  The best is yet to come.  It motivates me to move forward.  As amazing as the past 27 1/2 years have been, I have so much ahead of me.  I can't wait to see what will happen in the coming months, years, decades.

Sometimes not getting what you want may be precisely what you need.

At times, I might not get what I want or what I hope for.  I'll be disappointed, confused, discouraged.  Things may end up being different than what I expect or plan, but I have to believe that it is all for the best.  It is in those instances that I have the opportunity to learn and grow.  It is in those instances that I must trust there's something else in store...that there's a bigger (and better!) plan for me.