What Surprises Us

What Surprises Us?

Yes, dear readers, exactly a month ago, I asked you to share what surprises you. I promised to publish a co-operative post with your responses and I’m so happy to do that today.

Jenni De La Torre @ For Jen’s Sake

What surprises me the most are the little things. The things that I have no idea are being heard, by either my kids or my friends. For instance: When someone who I consider to be smarter than me tells me that I am a talented writer and maybe I could help them with what they are writing.

When my 14 year old son comprehends me so much from our conversation about activism and standing up for what you believe in that he carries the convo on to his father to try and sway his father to our side. When my 16 year old daughter sees me distraught and tells me that being upset over that thing/person is not worth my time. When my son’s face lit up when he heard his hair brushing on the back of the chair. When my daughter went back to being a girly-girl because she feels so much better after her 10 year illness. All those little things surprise me, I guess because I was a pessimist for so long, I never saw the good things when they happened. Now I can see them, feel them, touch, smell, taste, hear them. And for the very first time in my life I realize I am living them and they make me happy.

Melissa Tandoc @ Depth

I’d probably say, ‘sudden’ requests that come from nowhere and answered prayers 😉

Leigh Young @ Views of An Optimist

My first response was to look up the word to verify I had a correct interpretation of it. ‘Surprise’ is a word that can be either a verb or a noun. My take on surprise is generally, a noun: a coming upon unexpectedly; detecting in the act; taking unawares.

My surprises are exterior surprises manifesting a shift of interior deliberation.

The beauty of life surprises me. There have been times when a wave of unexpected clarity has hit me. When and where this tidal wave may hit is a mystery. I am nearly driven to my knees and filled with bliss. I cannot drink in the spectrum of colors quickly nor deeply enough. The greens seem a little greener as do the blues and reds and yellows all around me. My vision seems a little more keen. I have been fortunate enough to experience this on more than one occasion. Although, I will always recall the first time. It was at dawn as I was driving eastward towards work. The colors were so magnificent and overwhelming, I had to pull off the road to drink them in.

I am surprised that the sound of a anyone humming or singing while shopping makes me stop and smile. The sound of someone else recalling a happy moment and expressing it, lightens my spirit as well. The attitude in any aisle within hearing distance changes. I do try to remember this and hum while grocery shopping, not only to keep my heart lighter, but to help others as well.

Lastly but not nearly least, the sound of honest laughter. I am surprised at the power of honest laughter. Not the he-he-he nefarious, not the tittle of polite “you’ve told an insipid joke”, but the honest release of intelligence mixed with gaiety. The power is profound and in my opinion, more healing than prayer. Shoulders lift, heads tilt upward, deep healthy breathing has occurred, and one of your worries has dissipated.

Ron Reed @ If I Had A Blog 

On a negative side, things that surprise me for example are things like the pastor in Florida who hung President Obama in effigy because of his stance on gay marriage, and Islam in general. Perhaps I am naive, or was raised as more tolerant, but in this day and age I fail to understand such violent hatred, especially from anyone who professes to be a “messenger of God”…but anyone whose set appointed purpose is to teach hatred. It surprises me every time.

On a positive side…all things simple surprise me with delight. To head to my deck in early morning and see rabbits enjoying a nibble in the yard, a rainbow, a child laughing spontaneously, a job well done. Daily life offers many surprises to open eyes and hearts.

Rakesh Gurbani

What surprises me the most is how much ever I try and let go. I still hang on to some memories, grudges, anxieties and life after all….

Vinita Kumta

What surprises me is human beings behaving like animals.I then wonder why at all do we call those animals & us human?

Privy Trifles @ Memoirs of Me

What surprises me the most would be people’s attitude around me to a lot of things. The way they change colours like chameleon is something I have been unable to associate with the human nature even after having witnessed it very closely.

Myrna Rosa @ Daily Spirit

The stillness, the serenity and the beauty I see when I look out my front window each morning is a daily surprise. My mountains, though unmoving, are often adorned by dancing shapes of clouds, by the suns angle of light that creates shadows and colors forming divine art. And so I’m not surprised by all that goes on in this earth – all the unexpected glory and darkness that combine and originate from One source.

Nikky @ Nikky’s Strength and Weakness

I am truly surprised by the very strong connection I can feel with people I have never met, compared to the very poor connection I have with family i am in contact with on a daily basis.

Lynne Watts @ Watt Works

What surprises me is people who don’t learn from mistakes and follow the same patterns over and over, but always expect life to turn out differently. People who are content with an average life when they could have an extraordinary life.

Jan Neel @ Photos By Jan

What surprises me the most at this point in my life is how many real friends I have made that I have never met and how much love and support I receive from them. Always willing to encourage me. I never thought of what I have done or am doing as courageous or as me being strong until I started hearing for my friends online. I always assumed that sooner or later everyone did what they had to do to change their lives.

Debra Terrell 

What really surprises me? I think the best thing that surprises me is to see my two year old making really small progress daily. I am daily falling love with his one or two new acts or sentences that he tries to speak!

 

Genevive Angela @ Live A Life of Gratitude

There are so many things that surprise me. One recent one was a young post-graduate student hanged herself because of a failed relationship. She was just a few blocks away from my work place. I was so disturbed by the fact that this girl was brilliant and was surrounded by so many people.   the postmortem revealed that she had suicidal tendencies, and there were marks  on her body, and neither her friends nor the faculty were able to identify. She gave  clues verbally and also through her behaviour, unfortunately it was not identified and noticed. Suicide is the most preventable form of death. Suicide prevention is everyone’s responsibility.

Cathy Mails  @ Sea Green Natural

What surprises me is when my seventeen year old is actually nice to me sometimes!!

Diana Pinto @ Diana’s Musings

Human beings continue to do wrong even though they are well aware that wrong actions will lead to wrong endings.For example, Politicians continue to indulge in corruption even though they are aware that if they are caught they’ll end up behind bars.Why do people make the same mistakes and continue to do wrong even after knowing the consequences? This is what surprises me the most.

Libby @ Libby’s Book Blog

You just read my blog post about something that surprised me – LOL! We can link it if you like. But, in all seriousness, the surprise there was not the looks of the person. I am really not that superficial. The huge surprise was the huge, bold-faced lie, followed by the shrugging off of the lie with the weak excuse. Wow. I think that it is funny, because it is so odd. But, if I behaved like that, I would go hide in shame!

Linda Lee @ Dangerous Linda

It still surprises me every time I realize how great my amazing boyfriend thinks I am, day in and day out, just the way I am.

Nicole Pyles @ World of My Imagination

What seems to surprise me the most is genuine, no hidden intentions, kindnes from people. As sad as that sounds, it does surprise me when someone is nice and follows through with their kindness. There are only a small amount of people in my life that I can trust their kindness, and that’s my family. I am always surprised by genuine kindness from strangers.

Martha Orlando @ Meditations of My Heart

What surprises me? That the vast majority of people I interact with are kind, caring, and courteous. Whether at the grocery store, in the car, or on-line, the people with generous hearts and warm smiles far outweigh those who are selfish, self-serving, or spiteful. In spite of so many bad things going on in the world, as the news would have us believe, there are those who are doing and saying encouraging things and loving their neighbors as themselves. Wow! It truly is a wonderful world!

What surprises me (Corinne) is how we are all connected to each other in ways we don’t seem to understand at times. I’m surprised by the strength of people who can smile genuinely and reach out to others despite their pain. I am constantly surprised by a God who loves us so deeply that He finds new ways to reach out to us – through people and through life events.

Thank you to everyone who contributed.  I appreciate your generosity!