Life is like an Oreo

"Life is like an Oreo. In between the dark stuff and the hard stuff, there is the good stuff."

This was a saying I came up with during my high school years. It was a time when popular kids ruled the world and my insecurities were through the roof. I remember during a certainly difficult time, I would spend my lunches in the Seminary Building with my favorite Seminary teacher and a group of other struggling teens like myself. I would "vent" about all my hard times, struggles and short comings. He would say, "Now that you've pointed out all the negative, let's look at the positive."

The attitude he was trying to teach me was exactly what I needed. I didn't see it then, but I certainly do now.

Everyone has heard the saying, "In order to appreciate the sunshine, you must first experience the rain," or something along those lines. Bottom line is in order to know happiness and joy, we must know pain and sorrow. In this wonderful world Heavenly Father created, he created an opposite to all things.

In high school, I remember being so traumatized when walking into a restroom and seeing my name and mean things on the stall walls. I never stopped to think about the friends that I had that would walk in, see my name, pull out a marker and scribble it out. I remember being so hurt I wasn't invited to a party. I never stopped to think about my loving family at home that decided to eat pizza and watch movies outside all night.

Now, if you think about how an Oreo is made up, it becomes a lesson in gratitude. Or maybe I'm just crazy. Have you ever grabbed an Oreo and just ripped it open, licked up all the icing and threw the cookies away? Who hasn't?? I'm sure that's what we would all like to do with our lives. Just lick up all the good, sweet, happy times and get rid of the hard and crunchy difficult parts. But then, it's not really an Oreo... is it? You might as well go buy a can of frosting and just eat that. And that is like life. If you just had all the perfectly happy times, you wouldn't really be living, would you? Because that is LIFE. In fact, you wouldn't even be happy. Because those "happy" times aren't really happy until you know what it's like to be sad. So in the end, it wouldn't be much fun! (And you'll be extremely unhealthy!)

You can take an Oreo and just eat it all by itself. It's not the absolute best, but it is still amazingly good. Have you ever taken an Oreo (yes, the WHOLE thing) and dunked it into a nice, refreshing, cold glass of milk? Mmmmm isn't that the best?? (Here comes the life comparison. Maybe I am a little crazy... Sorry!) Like the Oreo by itself, life can be lived and still be good. But what can make it better? What can make those hard, dark, difficult times become soft, and easier for us to handle? For me, it's the cool, refreshing taste of the gospel of Jesus Christ in my life.


We are all meant to go through hard times, and good times. Because that is life! But we are not meant to do it alone! We have a Heavenly Father who loves us and knows us! He knows our struggles and our challenges. The Attonment is not just for sins. It is also for the grief and the pain and the personal struggles we deal with. Physically or emotionally, spiritually and mentally. He is there with us EVERY step of the way!

So, how you choose to eat your Oreo is entirely up to you. But so is how you choose to live your life. Don't be afraid of the "dark stuff" and the "hard stuff." Because you are not alone. Even through the "good stuff," you have someone who loves you by your side. Always.

~Avery