The Sweetness of Surprise

There are so few surprises in our lives. I mean “true” surprises – the good kind. The kind that makes our face break out into a smile. A real time smile – not a practiced one that hurts your cheeks – not an expected one. One that starts in the heart and moves through your entire body.

It’s not because there aren’t surprises out there for us that we don’t experience them often. It’s because we don’t allow them in. We have become so good at controlling every aspect of our lives that there is no room for surprise. And so the only surprises we tend to get are the ones we don’t want – the things in our lives that we can’t control. 

So is it any wonder that we come to dread and fear surprises. We even often tell the universe we DON’T want surprises, and the Universe responds in kind. How many times have you heard yourself say ..

“please no surprises”

You can’t have surprise and control in the same moment. In order to experience surprise you must let go of any control you have in that moment. That is where the fear and hesitation stems from – humans don’t like feeling out of control – not one bit. In order to enjoy the surprise you must let go of expectations and THAT is why we are never happy with what comes in a moment of surprise. Unless of course the surprise meets our expectation and then it’s not really a surprise, is it? You see, expectation is a form of control.

I just SURPRISED myself with that realization…I never truly thought about it this way before. It’s easy to see expectation as the opposite of control – of being “out of control”. It’s about wanting something that’s beyond our control. That’s because our expectations are most often about outside stuff – other people, circumstances, even the weather. But in truth, expectation IS our way of having some sort of control  We can’t control what’s going to happen but we can control what we EXPECT to happen.

Allow the flow

The universe rarely meets us in our expectation, because from a space of control, we don’t allow its powers in. We can get very frustrated then when we see things flowing so beautifully for other people and we wonder why it is that we struggle so hard and yet nothing goes the way we want. That could be because the other people are ALLOWING things to happen rather than trying to control them into being. You’ve no doubt noticed that when you let things happen naturally, they usually go much better than when you are trying to control them. It’s definitely much less stressful and certainly more fun.

So how do we go about letting go of control and allowing the universe to surprise us once in a while. Well we begin with small things at first. Practice letting go of expectations with something small – something that you don’t have to invest too much in.

Help with letting go

The stone beings can help us with releasing our control in many ways. Simply in their presence, they inspire us to be in the moment – where there is no control. They support us in beginning to let go of control and they do that in a very loving and accepting space. 

I asked the stone beings which of them would specifically support our becoming open to the flow of life and to it’s wondrous surprises.  OPAL began to sing – especially the opal with the inner fire. They are perfect physical manifestations of SURPRISE, for you can look at them and see a simple stone and then in the next moment be gifted with a burst of rainbow colour.

Two Gifts

The stones in their playful spirit inspired me to offer you a fun way to experience surprise. Next time you are seeking a new stone, allow the stone(s) to choose you, rather than you choosing them, and see what happens. 

If you can be open, you will receive 2 gifts – the gift of surprise and the gift they offer in their presence and in their message – one that you wouldn’t have received if you didn’t trust them to choose you.  This is about spontaneity – about having fun – about letting go – about trusting in the universe.