Why Bother To Be Surprised?

Lately, I’ve been noticing the unexpected, unplanned and small pleasantries that occur at least once in my life on any given day. These little surprises give my heart a lift. I’m caught off guard and suddenly, I feel glad. Like biting into my favorite chocolate candy, these little unorchestrated surprises give a large dose of momentary pleasure. 

        Good Moments

Someone once wrote, “One of the greatest moments in life is the moment we recognize we have them in the first place.” Great moments are those interludes, interruptions or pauses that take place in an ordinary day. But, they are extraordinary. These junctions between the planned and the unplanned, the expected and the unexpected cause us to pause. We want to savor the second. We want to absorb the minute of goodness that has come our way. Though we have schedules to keep and goals to accomplish, en route of these comes an encounter. Something  that is almost indescribable.  

For instance, this past week I was caught off guard when two different people on two different occasions took the time to remember me. One sent me a text, out of the blue, with a very kind message of appreciation. Another person, an ex-brother-in-law, pulled into my driveway, delivered a bottle of wine and a friendly greeting. Both of these incidents were something out of the ordinary in the midst of an ordinary day. 

A friend of mine, who studies dreams, told me that the more I write my dreams down, the more dreams I will remember. I find the same to be true concerning those moments that I consider to be a gift, a little twinkling of goodness that comes my way. The more I notice them, the more of them I begin to notice.

Seeing wildlife is not extraordinary. It is not uncommon for me to see eagles, ospreys and deer when I go out for a run or a bike ride. But while kayaking two weeks ago I saw a heron take flight. I was close enough to notice something I’d never noticed before. I saw the heron shorten its long neck as it began to fly. Instead of watching the National Geographic channel on television to learn about herons in flight, I got to live a National Geographic moment. A small, yet momentous sight for my eyes. 

Why acknowledge the unexpected as something good? Why be excited or surprised by the unanticipated? Though I don’t get to control these appearances, or preserve them to bring out later, I do get to feel the lift they give my heart in that wink of time.  

Why bother to be surprised? Those little nuggets of goodness are to be enjoyed. Why not notice them for their intention- a simple pleasure.