Lessons for Living
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Have you been surprised recently?
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Does life still
surprise you or do you take too many things for granted? Are you still open to the wonder
of the world, or have you closed it off with the predictability of a well-established
routine? A routine can be satisfying but runs the risk of boredom. A well-developed
routine is like living on auto-pilot and can become a sleep-walk through life. If this
happens, it is surprise that offers to awaken and enliven you. It is surprise that brings
you to your senses and even a "bad" surprise will do. Novelist Walker Percy has written that on any ordinary Tuesday afternoon it takes the "worst" of news to cheer us up. Percy is noting is that the unexpected is always invigorating. Even unwelcome surprise moves us out of complacency and into action. The paradox of "bad" news is that it can "cheer" you up by pulling you back into the present moment with energy and interest. What do you think would happen if you didn't wait on surprise (good or bad) to find you, but rather, opened yourself to finding it? You just might discover yourself to be on the path to happiness. A key ingredient of happiness is the capacity to be surprised. To truly benefit from surprise, however, you must be receptive to it, and you can become more receptive by something as simple as developing a new view for the ordinary events of life. What about daily life could surprise you? We are surrounded by wonders that we don't see. Wonders like electricity rushing through wires when we flip the switch, or water flowing when we turn the faucet. These routine events are expected, and we don't see the miracle behind them, but there was a time when they were amazing. How about turning on your radio and hearing sound? In the early days of radio this was an extraordinary experience. Families would gather to hear the awe-inspiring sounds of voices and music coming out of the air. It was almost a spiritual experience. Today we take radio, and now television, for granted and only occasionally does some feat of computer technology amaze us. Nonetheless, these events are all miraculous when seen from the proper perspective. If you were intentionally looking for "surprises," the surprise might be that any of these things happen at all. You would marvel that lights come on, water flows, and that sounds, pictures, and e-mail speed around the world. You would sense the wonder behind these "common place" events, life would be enlivened, and would you offer a blessing of gratitude for all the ordinary miracles of daily life. See if you can be surprised today. Find something marvelous in the ordinary. Open your eyes and your mind and look for the miracles surrounding you. ©2001 Daniel H. Johnston. All Rights Reserved. |
