Living As A Second Choice

The other day I was watching the beloved movie, “Forrest Gump”. I swear, if you don’t tear up when Forrest asks Jenny, “Why don’t you love me, Jenny? I’m not a smart man… but I know what love is,” then you don’t have a soul. At some point in our lives, we’ve all been in that situation. For me, it started in fourth grade. We were in Mrs. Kelley’s class. Matthew Guthrie was the only other student as short as me; and he wore glasses too. It was destiny. We were meant to be together. But we had a new student, a beautiful brunette named Bonnie that came in and ruined it all! Just like all the other boys in our class, Matthew fell for those long, flowing locks with just a slight curl at the end. As soon as she walked into that classroom, all hope with Matthew flew out the window. I was crushed! Fast forward to fifth grade, the excitement of Bonnie’s arrival had worn off; and Matthew and I were the cutest couple in elementary school. No, I wasn’t his first choice. But I damn well was the Second Choice; and I was gonna make the best of it!

• 

Life is not fair. In fact, life can be pretty mean at times. We are all going to be the second choice at some time or another. Watching “Forrest Gump”, you could never imagine John Travolta saying, “Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” But, in fact, John Travolta was the first choice for the role of Forrest Gump. He passed the role up; and they went on to choose Tom Hanks. Even though he was the second choice, Tom Hanks took on that role, made it infamous, and won an Oscar! He didn’t pout. He didn’t use the fact that he wasn’t the first choice as an excuse to do a poor job. He accepted the situation for what it was, saw the opportunity as it was presented; and made the best of it.

It’s been over thirty years (OMG, really thirty?!) since I was Matthew’s second choice. And, I know I’ve been second choice in several other situations since. I’ve gotta admit, there were times when I have thrown my hands up and proclaimed that if I couldn’t be first choice, then I wouldn’t be a choice at all. Of course, there are times when that is appropriate. There are times when our pride and self-worth should take priority and we should not budge. But I feel like, in today’s society, if we aren’t made to feel the most special, we don’t want to participate. If we can’t have first place or be MVP, we don’t want to play the game.

I’ve told my children time and time again, “We are all special one day. But no one is special every day.” I think we all need to be reminded of this often. We cannot always be First Choice. There will be times when we will be Second Choice. It is in these moments, when our pride is bruised, when our feelings are hurt, that we can really see who we are. In these moments, we have to decide what is top priority to us; and continue to march on. I am raising my niece. I am most definitely not her first choice. Her mother, despite her regressions, will always be her first choice. I get my feelings hurt so very often because I know that no matter what I offer her, no matter what sacrifices I make for her, I will always be her second or third choice. These moments are when I have to remind myself to keep my chin up, and continue to be the solid foundation she needs to rebuild her life on. I will never be her MVP, but I play one heck of defensive end, and I’m gonna stick this game out until this child makes it to the end zone.

This is the cruelty of life. No matter how deeply and purely we love someone; or no matter how badly we want the job, there will be times when we are just the second choice. It takes a lot to keep your chin up, swallow your pride, and continue to pursue what is important to you. But, if it is truly important to you, you will take it however you get it; and in whatever manner- even if it is because someone else didn’t want it. We have to let our passion override our pride at times.

There’s that famous saying, “let something go; and if it comes back to you, it’s yours.” that we often rely on when we are facing a loss. How about we start a new saying, “They let something go; and it came to you because it was truly yours all along.” Second choice isn’t always about pride. Most often second choice is about destiny. Nothing worth having comes easy. And there are times when we have to be second choice to fully appreciate the opportunity.

So, for this week’s recipe, I am choosing a leftover recipe. It works best as a second choice for a meal!! Enjoy and take full advantage of every opportunity given to us, no matter what order they are offered!

CHICKEN CHIMICHANGAS (www.allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:

• 2 cans cream of chicken soup
• 2 cans diced green chiles
• 5 pitted green olives
• 1 jalapeno pepper, chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 (8oz) pkg. cream cheese
• 1/2 (1oz) pkg. taco seasoning
• 1 pound left-over cooked chicken
• 8 flour tortillas
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup chopped green onion
• 1 (8oz) container sour cream

Directions

• Pour the cream of chicken soup into a blender along with the green chiles, olives, jalapeno, and lime juice. Puree until smooth, then pour into a saucepan, and warm over medium-low heat while proceeding with the recipe.
• Step 2 In a large bowl, stir together the cream cheese, Monterey Jack cheese, and taco seasoning until well blended. Fold in the chicken. Evenly divide mixture among the 8 tortillas. Fold each tortilla into a rectangular packet around the filling.
• Step 3 Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Fry 4 chimichangas at a time until golden brown, then drain on a plate lined with paper towels.
• Step 4 To serve, place a chimichanga on a plate, and ladle the warm sauce overtop. Sprinkle with Cheddar cheese and green onions. Finish with a dollop of sour cream.