FOOLS RUSH IN

Last night, I caught one of my all-time-favorite movies, FOOLS RUSH IN. I've seen it at least 10 times, but I always love to "accidentally" catch it on TV! It's a romantic comedy with Salma Hayek and Matthew Perry, about two people who meet, have a one night stand, end up pregnant, and get married - because they actually really do like each other and want to be together. Of course, marrying someone you don't know very well can have its challenges.

Throughout the movie, she talks about believing in "signs". At least she calls them signs, but actually, I think the real meaning is "destiny". As in - was their meeting destined? He is not a believer in signs. He believes in "grabbing the brass ring" when you see it. In other words, life is what you make it. When they split up, he begins to see signs that are leading him back to her. She, on the other hand, starts to question whether or not they were destined to be together. She begins to doubt the validity of signs. So she runs away to her grandma in Mexico and gets wise counsel about being afraid. Grandma says you must risk heartbreak for the chance to know true love.

Are there signs in life? Of course, if you are looking to be led in a particular direction, you can find signs that accommodate your desire. Sometimes, you can look back and see that you were led in a particular direction, even though you didn't know it at the time. Some believe in fate or destiny. I believe in God - but even then, I sometimes wonder if He has led me in a particular direction, or if He just made the best out of where I chose to go.

But still, in this movie, does the fact that this New York guy was in Las Vegas at that particular time, and the fact that they coincidentally met, mean anything? Does the fact that she was intimate with him, even though she was not the kind of girl to do that, mean anything? And does the fact that she got pregnant mean that there was something greater bringing them together?

I think we can't know those kinds of answers until we look back and reflect on our lives. Then we can clearly see which was the road we were destined to be on, and which things happened when we got off track. But Grandma was right, sometimes you just have to take risks.