We all have a lot riding on the holiday season with our desire to make everyone (ourselves included) have a fantastic time. But when we set our hearts on what we think should happen, we close ourselves off from appreciating the surprises that the holiday season can give us.
Maybe you’re thinking, “The only surprise I want is that expensive watch/necklace/outfit/car I’ve been eyeing.” Is that really true though? You probably wouldn’t mind being surprised by a card from a long-lost friend, or a surprise discount on an item you’d love to give a child in your life. You probably wouldn’t mind to be surprised by a neighbor coming by to drop off cookies. So you see, surprises, and being open to them, is part of what makes the holiday season so magical.
When we plan our time to the minute, when we know just how things “should” go, we are setting ourselves up for disappointment. But why do that to ourselves when surprises can be so much more fun?
Susan wrote in End the Struggle and Dance With Life, “It is said that ‘life is what happens when we’ve made other plans.’ If this is so, and we all know it is, then it doesn’t make much sense to keep demanding that life to be a certain way. It doesn’t make much sense to go through life traveling down the same tunnel of expectation when we know that tunnel often brings us disappointment. It is an act of self-love to stop hanging on to the way it is supposed to be. It is this hanging on that causes us to be buffeted about by the unwelcome surprises in our life.”
And when let go of how we think things “should” be then surprises won’t be unwelcome. Surprises will be the things that we look forward to. If we don’t hold on to the outcome, then we are free to enjoy things as they come. There is no better time of the year to try this out.