Surprises Make Our Life Interesting

While I daresay surprises are needed to make our lives interesting, a line needs to be drawn at how fascinating a life can be before the element of surprise risk becoming a banality. Surprises tend to be things/events that we do not expect and are usually out of our control. The novelty in surprises is its shock value and overdoing it can take the spark out of it. Much joy can come out of a random moment. Take for example, an unexpected promotion, a spontaneous trip to the beach or reconnecting with a long-lost friend. The surprise in those events add a hint of extra emotion, such that we’ll remember them more fondly. However, surprise also has a dark side, like the death of a loved one or losing a job. Life has its ups and downs, learning to roll with the lemons that life throws at you is important. While we cannot control every aspect of our life, we can control how we react to unforeseeable circumstances. Life can be unpredictable and sometimes you just got to stay positive and let life surprise you.

The antithesis of surprise is predictability. There are people who enjoys surprises and those who don’t. The former tend to be curious, spontaneous and enjoy challenges. They will relish in the opportunity to analyze a situation and utilize their intuitive skills in order to consider the many possible outcomes. They actually like being kept on their toes, much more than knowing exactly what to expect. The latter then to be systematic creatures of routine and safety. For these people, surprises take them out of their comfort zone, for instance out of the blue your regular bus is out of service today and you would have to find an alternative route to work. How frustrating! However, rather than letting that ruin your day, take it as an opportunity to flex your adaptive thinking muscles. Use your creative thinking skills and rise to the occasion. Plus, taking a different route introduces you to different scenery and may open opportunities. *Research also shows that the brain finds unexpected pleasures more rewarding than expected ones, regardless of the person’s character.

In this current era, where science and technology has progressed to the point where you can plan your day out months in advance and knowledge is at our finger tips, we’re slowly but surely cutting out surprise out from our lives. With more information at our disposal we are better equipped to plan and prepare for a multitude scenarios such as natural disasters or power outages to planning a grocery trip. Like it or not, surprises add colour to our lives, turning a dull, monotonous moment into a memorable one. Expand your horizons by trying something new every once in a while like diving or trying out a new recipe. The joy of creating our own adventures can create wonder surprises. An example would be by paying it forward, the unexpected kindness from a random stranger can do wonders for their mood. In this case you can be the ‘stranger’ and