Choosing to be Surprised

[cs_section parallax=”false” separator_top_type=”none” separator_top_height=”50px” separator_top_angle_point=”50″ separator_bottom_type=”none” separator_bottom_height=”50px” separator_bottom_angle_point=”50″ style=”margin: 0px;padding: 0px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text]A few months back before Christmas I was thrown a surprise birthday party. It was definitely a surprise, I had no idea or a clue. Even all the way into walking into the house I thought it was a Christmas party. It wasn’t until the yell of “surprise!” that it dawned on me what was going on. It was a very nice surprise, one that started by allowing myself to be surprised.

Surprise!

It may seem to be a contradiction but I did allow myself to be surprised. When a couple of friends told me they wanted to take me out for my birthday I was hesitant. After they kept talking about going out I finally relented. I then started thinking about what I may want to do or where to go. They never asked me though and as they came to pick me up I decided I would just go with the flow. Whatever they had planned I would just go along, within reason. Little did I know they were setting me up for the surprise party where I had a great time.

It occurred to me a few days later it could have gone much different. Had I been insistent on doing this or going there I could easily had been in a bad mood when we arrived at the party. And starting off in a bad mood would have put a damper on the whole party. However, by allowing myself to just enjoy whatever my friends had planned I was able to enjoy the big surprise.

Learning to Enjoy

Allowing myself to be surprised also allowed myself to enjoy the party to the fullest. Life is no different, by allowing ourselves to be surprised with the comings and goings of life we allow ourselves to enjoy life more fully. This does not mean all things that happen will be enjoyable – we all know better than that. Yet there are lots of things in life that are more enjoyable than we realize.

It can be a rainy day when we wished for sunshine or the shirt we wanted is no longer for sell. Each so called setback is an opportunity to enjoy something else. Rainy days may interrupt our picnic but we can splash in the puddles instead. The shirt may be gone but while looking for alternatives we may find one we like even better. Just as I let go of my insistence on what to do for my birthday allowed for a more enjoyable experience so we can also let go and enjoy.

In our current environment where we each want, demand even, that we get our own way maybe we should just let go some and enjoy life more. It’s our choice – demand on doing certain things your way or letting go and choosing to be surprised.

Attempt it. Chance it. Try it. Get to It![/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section]