Fortune Cookie Friday: Fortune from Within

Yesterday was Fortune Cookie Day. I hope that you had a chance to visit your local Chinese food establishment for a meal and an individually wrapped dessert of destiny. You get a fortune, don’t have to cook, and it’s usually ready in fifteen minutes or less.

I have been writing my weekly Fortune Cookie Friday posts for over three years. I have covered topics on success, self-improvement, and science; to name a few. That’s a lot of fortunes. Heck, that’s a lot of cookies. Luckily, I get help eating them.

I find it interesting just how many people revel in reading the tiny pieces of paper wrapped in a sweet, crispy shell. Just like flipping to the horoscopes in the daily newspaper, we search for a glimpse of what could be in a world of what has been.

As a society, we spend an enormous amount of time prognosticating. We are eager to know what the future holds for us. We follow the stock market, tune into the weather, and gamble with our homes, cars, and lives by buying insurance policies.

There isn’t anything wrong with being a little prepared. It’s a smart thing to do. Nobody is going to cover your butt but you. Unfortunately, determining what to do and how to do it can be challenging.

Today’s cocky little cookie reminds me that there is more than one way to glean knowledge of our futures. Sometimes all it takes is looking at the past since we so often repeat it. We can read history books, turn to holy texts, or take the often ignored advice from our parents—yes; your kids will turn out just like you. Want to control the future? Be a good role model.

One place we need to look for answers in our lives is within. Not within a cookie, but within our hearts. All the information we gather, the statistics we calculate, and the advice we receive will only take us so far. In the end, it comes down to making a choice. We have to look within to determine what will be best for us.

We need to heed that feeling that builds in our hearts when we pursue the answers to the meaning of life, the universe, and everything. Is the answer 42? Maybe, I really don’t have a clue, but that cookie that you just crumbled in your hands—because there is no possible way to eat a fortune cookie without making at least a little mess—won’t have all the answers. Sometimes we have to follow our hearts.