Surprise: an unexpected or astonishing event, fact, or thing
I like surprises.
And--maybe some of you do, too. And maybe you don't.
I can understand why you wouldn't. Because surprises can not always be good or well-timed. Like a baby coming early. Maybe the birth goes well and everyone is healthy, but that project at work that you were hoping to complete before going on leave--surprise! Isn't getting finished. Or the unexpected nature of surprises might be a challenge to one's nervous system if you grew up in a household of unwelcome intrusions into your sense of peace and safety. Surprises aren't always seen as or felt as good.
In addition, I think that our dislike of surprises may arise from our desire to be in control of life. We want to make plans, and we want them to succeed. We follow the recipe and expect a fluffy, delicious cake. But it sinks! We want to know what is happening today check the weather or the traffic report, etc., to be sure of what is going to happen. Then it pours rain on our child's soccer tournament. Surprise!
From the perspective of our energetic relationship with reality (did you know you were in a relationship with the Universe?), when we endeavor to construct our lives, plan our lives, organize our lives, or in other words control reality, we are living from within an energetic framework of "control." We are living from a position that we know what's best. We are living from a perspective that our desired scenarios for reality are going to be for the highest good. We are living in a world of our own construction instead of in a relationship with a dynamic and loving universe that wants to hold us, inspire us, support us, and ultimately lead us all to our greatest potential of realization and love.
Surprises can be small. You can be surprised by the beauty of a little blossom or bird. You can be amazed by how good the coffee at a new coffee shop is. You can be informed by how much you now know you don't like seaweed. And surprises can be big. During my senior year in college, I had freedom in my schedule to study anything, and they had just started offering Japanese. So I took Japanese and loved it! Surprise! I loved it so much and wanted to live abroad so much, that after college I moved to Japan and lived there for three years. It changed my life. I learned so much about humans, culture, friendship and myself. Surprise!
Being open to surprise is certainly a way to lean in to your spiritual life. Surprise is very close to curiosity, wonder, and awe. When you live in an energy of surprise, you are inviting the infinite wisdom and love of the universe into the conversation of your day. You release the control. You stop managing the dialogue or the narrative or the outcomes. You aspire, but you are also open--to seeing what the day will bring. To seeing who will come in, what plans change and change for the better. To seeing how the universe is surprising you and leading you back to a deeper understanding and awareness of who you are.
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