Life is like a box of chocolates...

The more I live, the more I realize that Sht Happens! Yes, you heard me right: Sht happens. It happens to ALL of us-- rich, poor, black, white, gay, straight, short, tall-- I mean everybody! When I refer to "sht", I’m referring to unforeseen circumstances, things we didn’t plan that are out of our control and/or situations that don’t look favorable towards our end goals. That kind of sht.

Let’s be honest, when unplanned circumstances come our way, it's easy to feel defeated and want to just throw in the towel all together. Especially if it involves money or time that we can’t EVER get back! Whoo, I’m having a flashback! Breathe Ebonne… Breathe. Okay. I’m good.

My point is that I’m sure we all have been there a time or two and yes it sucks; but there is level of adaptability we all have to LEARN in order to not allow unforeseen circumstances to take us totally out of the game. With that being said, this is a two fold blog post, so sit tight.

I was recently schooled by my BFF (who is a chocolate connoisseur) on how to properly eat chocolate. You're not alone. I didn’t know there was a right way either. I’ll get back to that in a second. After she brought me up to speed on living this chocolate life, I immediately thought that it would be a great Valentine's Day experience to share with you all! So, me and my team hit the ground running and planning! We ordered exotic truffles to sample, paid for the necessary production elements, invited some really cool chocolate lovers to my house and filmed a step-by-step video guide on how to properly eat chocolate. We filmed for three hours (while exhausted) after work! It was a lot of fun and our footage turned out great! Then, the rug was pulled from underneath us a few days later when we discovered the news that a series of unfortunate, life-threatening events occurred that caused our footage to be lost indefinitely. I mean, something SERIOUS went down.

Yes, I was shocked and sad because I involved other people in my vision, lost money, time and lost my original idea. But I had to go into "don’t quit mode" and rummage through my vault of learned lessons to help get me through.

First Lesson: Some things are way more valuable than any material thing will ever be. Those "things" include our health, sanity, safety, family and overall well being. Those are the elements of life that are priceless and will always reign supreme over replaceable things.

Second Lesson:When “life happens”, it’s just a sign that it’s time to roll up our sleeves and get creative. Exhaust all options on how to continue to move forward with your idea, even if that means revamping the original idea.

Third Lesson:Never be so “married” to an idea that if it doesn’t go exactly the way you planned it, you want to trash it all together. We have to be flexible enough to keep moving and finish what we said we were going to do with excellence.

And who knows, the revamped idea may turn out better than the original idea! You won't know if you don't try. With that being said, this post is that-- my revamped idea! This is my attempt at not giving up and adapting to unforeseen circumstances. So I'm here to give you these instructions on how to eat chocolate "the correct way" because I don't want my "Guests" out here looking crazy on Valentine's Day eating chocolate truffles the WRONG way! So, if you want to be fancy and come correct, I’ve got all the delicious deets below for you.

Follow the directions carefully and invite a friend to join you! It makes the experience that much better. Happy eating & of course, comment below to let me know what your chocolate experience was like!

Directions:

How To Eat A Truffle Properly

1. BE PRESENT. Close your eyes, take three deep, cleansing ujjayi breaths and quiet the mind.

2. SEE the shine and color on the truffle's round shape.

3. TOUCH. Run your thumb and forefinger across the chocolate surface. Is it smooth, rough, bumpy, dry, moist or…?

4. SMELL. Bring your thumb and chocolate to your nose and inhale deeply. Close your eyes. Cup your other hand around the truffle and smell.

5. SNAP. Bite the truffle into two pieces. If the proper temperature conditions are present, you should hear a crisp, clean pop that indicates a well-tempered chocolate.

6. TASTE. Take a small bite. Break up the chocolate in your mouth, let it sit over your tongue, press to your palate (the roof of your mouth), and melt. What does your tongue detect: sweet, salty, bitter, acidic, umami…or a combination?

7. Now, taste with the help of your nose…as the chocolate is melting on your tongue, take a deep breath, aerating your palate as you stimulate your sense of smell through the back of your throat. What flavors do you taste now?

8. EVALUATE. After you have eaten the chocolate, take a breath into your mouth and chew on the breath, this gives you the lingering sense of the experience. Did you enjoy? Comment below and let me know.

Stay Sweet &

Keep Being Great,

EEH

Directions courtesy of Vosgeschocolate.com