I like surprises… not the kind where people pop out of cakes, or dark alleys but the kind where you know you are alive because something or someone has reached out and connected… touched your life or maybe you them.
Do you know what I mean? You get the chills, goose bumps, butterflies or an exciting little rush. It feels like a magical moment that really when you slice and dice it… is always sooo simple but seemingly elusive.
I remember being at a restaurant one time and our waitress was fantastic; I mean she really stood out. I can’t put my finger on what she did that was so special but it was memorable and I think the tip we left her was too. They don’t call Disneyland the happiest place on earth for nothing. The people there surprise you with their kindness and attention to detail. My grandmother who worked there for 35 years might disagree but to visit they accomplish their goal and it feels a bit magical. It’s like the rush I get when I pay for the person coffee behind me in the Starbucks drive-thru or turn up the nice with the most difficult of people. It’s doing the unexpected... shaking things up a bit. The only thing I am curious about is why it is unexpected… what is expected is often mediocre and quite frankly boring.
I realize this question applies to me too and here’s what happens in that moment where I can choose the unexpected or settle for mediocrity. Maybe you can relate to the tapes that play… “the appointments, meetings, don’t have the extra time, don’t have the extra money, what if they don’t like it or me, and today I am just sooo tired, what if I am embarrassed or a little over the top, or the classic nobody goes out of their way any more, they’ll think I’m a freak ????
By then the opportunity has passed you by or has been quickly squashed like a bug….
Then there is the issue of supply and demand… after all if you give all your love, laughter, compassion, creativity and genius away, what will you be left with? So many reasons and yet last time I checked the last few listed here like love and laughter come in an endless supply and are probably the most renewable resource on the planet and the others, the excuses, they don’t hold a candle to the goose bumps!
As elusive as they may be, everyday I wish and intend to be pleasantly surprised. I want to witness something special, generous, bold, truthful, vulnerable and all out unexpected. Life is just more fun and meaningful when people and days are not as we could predict them to be. So while wishing and intending are a fabulous start… the real AHA for me and I hope for you, is the unexpected and the new starts with us. I choose to look at this desire to be surprised as an invitation to be the unexpected in each day and accept the challenge to risk enough everyday to feel truly alive.
Here's to something pleasantly surprising ~
Wendi
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