Ice Cream Cone
When I was a child, one of the best parts of summer was getting an ice cream cone. Now that I have a child of my own, I see the same joy in my daughter's face when we tell her it is time to go for ice cream. When we get there it often takes are quite a while to decide exactly what she wants. I have infinite patience with this because I understand how hard it is to choose from among the many amazing things they offer today. Though some of the people in line behind me get rather angry, I allow her to take her time and get exactly what she wants.
I have found that, for my five-year-old, there may be nothing more important than choosing the correct ice cream cone. Wait for her to make a decision can be a little testing, but I am glad that this is the most pressing issue in her life at this point. She will have plenty of time to waffle over more important decisions, but for right now the ice cream cone seems to be her biggest decision. A lot of us would be so lucky to have this to be our most pressing thought in our lives. Perhaps there is something to be said for simplicity.
I don't think my daughter is wishy-washy, but it does take her long time to choose her ice cream cone. If you have been to an ice cream stand lately you understand why she may take awhile to decide exactly what she wants. It's not as simple as choosing a flavor for your ice cream cone any longer. Today there are so many different toppings, and so many different types of ice cream, that even I have problems deciding what I wish to have at that moment. Because there are so many choices, I usually end up getting the same cone I get every time.
Though Forrest Gump said that life is like a box of chocolates, I like to think it is like an ice cream cone. You may know what you're getting, but you certainly don't know how to choose what you want in the first place. Sometimes you just have to take a wild guess, and get the ice cream cone that appeals to you at that moment in time. As in life, what looks really good may not end up being what you want, but that doesn't mean you have to make the same choice the next time. Life is a series of changing tastes and attitudes, and to me it is much like a five-year-old choosing an ice cream cone.
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