I am not a fan of surprises.
Surprise parties, unannounced visitors, restaurant servers gathered around my table singing an unenthusiastic birthday song while I sit in my seat wearing a sombrero and smiling awkwardly at a cupcake holding a flaming sparkler? Not my thing.
But as I get older – and I hope wiser – I’m trying to embrace the beauty of unexpected things. You just never know when you might find a moment of fascinating and beautiful in the midst of the ordinary – like the sea turtle Zilla found living on the wood boards of the restroom at our hiking spot. Sometimes the unplanned and unexpected in life are the very things we never knew we wanted.
For example, I can start here with my daughter, our Kidzilla. Before she was born, we were certain she would be a boy. We wanted to have a boy and we hoped for a boy, so we convinced ourselves that she was, indeed, a boy. As it turns, out she is a girl. A very pink, very sparkly girl. And we can’t imagine ever having wanted anything different.
In a million years, I never would have expected to decide that I wanted to work for myself, work from home, and want to make things like chaperoning field trips and volunteering in the school library the first items that go on my calendar. And yet, after Zilla was born, I found myself wanting that more and more.
I never would have expected to choose to leave the “security” of a full-time benefits-included job and strike out on my own. Terrifying. And yet unexpectedly rewarding. I certainly did not expect to start taking sub-teacher days – and I definitely didn’t think I’d enjoy it. But I’ve been subbing a couple of days each week for the last couple of weeks and enjoying it quite a bit.
I did not expect the plans I had for my self-employed ventures to fall through. Nearly everything I expected and planned and attempted for the last year has somehow not gone as planned. But as it turns out, in retrospect, it’s very likely been for good reason and it seems has led to better opportunities.
For example, I most definitely did not expect to land three freelance contract in three days – but that’s exactly what happened this week. I’m still in a bit of shock. Of course I’ll continue to search and add more – such is the life of the freelance writer – but these are a very positive and encouraging start. And I expected my first few jobs to be, well, hateful. But these three are actually quite interesting and I’m excited about doing them.
I’m sure I missed a memo or a posting or an invite somewhere this week because I most definitely did not expect my phone to ring with a video chat call on Friday evening. The next thing I knew, I was talking face-to-virtual-face with Clark and Lizzi and Kristi! That was an absolutely delightful surprise!
I never expected to find so many dear friends out there in so many places as a result of starting this blog. Nor did I expect the outpouring of good wishes, support, and encouragement that they provide in so many ways. I hope you all know who you are…I love you guys.
I didn’t expect my blood work to look all that great this week, but it’s quite good. Nor did I expect to buy jeans several sizes smaller than I thought I needed, or that I would drop (and keep off) ten pounds over the last couple of weeks, or that anyone would notice – ten pounds on a fat girl isn’t always that noticeable, you know? And yet all of those things have happened.
When asked what I do for a living, I never expected “I am a writer” to come out of my mouth. But it did. And oddly enough, mere hours after that utterance, I accepted my first contract. Coincidence? Who’s to say…?
I did not plan to have an impromptu girls’ slumber party last night with Kidzilla or expect that my Fab Hub would grab me in the garage for a good solid kiss this morning. Those happy surprises happened, too.
I didn’t expect to like the soup I’m eating right now, but it might be one of my new favorites.
And I certainly didn’t expect to go several days without Cat One making a fecal deposit somewhere unacceptable in the house, but it seems that even unexpected miracles do sometimes happen!
It’s a good day.
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This post was previously published on themeaningofme.com.
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