Surprises

I mentioned the other day there that I did not like surprises and have been asked why this is the case. It might at first seem obvious why somebody does not like surprises it being because they do not like being disappointed and that is to some extent understandable.  This, however, is not my reasoning though it may well have started out this way.

I was brought up in a very poor household and especially at this time of the year my mother found it very difficult. She began from an important standpoint and this was that the most important of all expenditures was to make sure that there was always food on the table and my brother and I did not go off to school hungry. For the same reason, we had to walk home from school at lunchtime to have a bowl of soup which was cheaper to produce than paying for a school meal.

So Christmas very quickly became part of the whole family way of life of compromise. There would be no big surprises at Christmas because then there would be no disappointments my mother would find out what we wanted and then tell us what we could expect that would be as near as possible to the request, but often not quite there.

On the whole, this worked and Christmas was plain and simple but there was always a meal of our favourites.

What I did not learn from this exercise was that art of knowing how to react when a surprise came my way. Try as I might I have never cultivated the art of making the giver feel that I am feeling as I deep down always am overwhelmed and my inner emotions remain mine alone. 

I have on the other hand learned as a giver not to expect a great deal and so I am never disappointed at the reaction of the receiver.  I have learned to take life as it comes.

But frequently I come around a bend on my walk and am confronted with a scene like this one above that leaves me standing open-mouthed in joy. Where on a cold morning with a low sun the needles on the ground show such a profusion of colour. 

Enjoy the unexpected and be grateful for what we never expected. I am sure this season of giving and receiving would be so much better if this was our starting point. 

Have a surprising day of happiness and feast on the simple things of life.