The element of surprise can be a wonderful thing. Not knowing you're about to witness something profound, or receive something totally unexpected is pure and sweet bliss...right?
When the unexpected pleasantry arrives, you experience a rush of euphoria. You want the warmth that suddenly blankets you to last, so you rush to tell everyone and anyone who might care to share in your bliss.
You stare at in amazement, able to see the lesson through your gratitude. Recognition, appreciation, kindness and thoughtfulness have found you and you feel alive, part of everything that surrounds you, the seen and unseen.
The moment is mentally recorded, labeled, and filed away for safe keeping among all the other captured memories of the past, your mind a vast warehouse of people and places long forgotten.
But what of the surprises that were not so wonderful? Not knowing you're about to witness something profound, or receive something totally unexpected is still pure and sweet bliss....is it not?
When an unexpected unpleasantry arrives, you experience feelings so deep they cannot be described. You want the chill that leaves you frozen where you stand to melt away, so you tell everyone and anyone who might care to help you find your way through the darkness.
You stare at in amazement, unable to recognize the kindness and thoughtfulness that envelopes you as you tremble. You fail to see the lesson in the madness. You feel cold, unaware of everything that surrounds you, the seen and unseen.
These moments as well are mentally recorded, labeled, and filed away for safe keeping. Cautiously they nestle beside the other more pleasant memories on the shelf. Decades pass. Grace and time soften them. They get comfortable with each other.
When it's time to get out the boxes and pack up the warehouse, I have a feeling that the positive moments in my life will balance out the negative. That's when I'll know the true meaning of bliss. Until then, I'm grateful for the kindness of friends.
