Everyday, something happens that I don’t expect to occur. No duh, right? That’s life on life’s terms. So, no revelations in that.
However, I also find that even though it’s a no duh, so many people let those unexpected surprises, hurdles, setbacks, and any other noun you want to use, put them on an emotional roller coaster every single day. Including myself sometimes. We allow ourselves to become overcome by this stress, because we haven’t given ourselves permission to see another way of operating. Yet we crave a life free of any mental or emotional anguish. So, aren’t we in a vicious cycle? The unexpected will happen, we don’t want that, it happens, we get bent out of shape, rinse, repeat…doing the same thing repeatedly expecting different results is the definition of insanity.
The unexpected happens every day, so why not just know it will happen, know you’ll get through it, and send it some love?
At least with that approach, you set yourself up to preserve more mental and emotional energy when the thing(s) actually occur.
Moreover, it seems like many times when I am asking for patience, acceptance, tolerance, and ease in my life…this unexpected happens a lot more frequently. It’s like life has a sense of humor, and only gives you the stuff you ask for through tests.
- You want patience? Life gives you situations that make you impatient.
- You want tolerance? Life puts people in your path that you could easily be intolerant towards.
- You want acceptance? Life gives you situation after situation that forces you to earn it.
- You want ease? Life will get hard first.
This list goes on and on. The point is, I had to change my perspective before I started to see the beauty in this particular trait of life’s limitless personality.
I already had at least 3 significant things happen today that I didn’t plan for, good and bad…I could freak out in the moment, and send myself down an anxious black pit of cursing life and it’s difficulty. Instead, I just handled it and realized I had gained 3 new lessons that make me a stronger and better person.
Do I always handle the unexpected like a zenned out hippie dude?
No, otherwise I wouldn’t be writing a blog everyday about rules I need to remember for my own life. But, I get better at it everyday.