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Surprises are not within our control.

Adopting a "surprise mindset" can help you face both the positive and negative effects of the surprise.

Knowing that you will face multiple surprises in your future can help you live more meaningfully today.

Life is a series of surprises! Last weekend, we received a surprise text from a cousin who was in town with his family to visit his grandmother, asking if we would like to join them. We texted back, yes! The day evolved from receiving this surprise text to spending a very joyful and meaningful afternoon with his 98 year old grandmother (his children’s great grandmother!). Later, I reflected on the consequences of welcoming the unexpected and how I have reacted to the many surprises I have encountered in my life.

A surprise is something unexpected, and to be surprised is our emotional reaction to this unexpected event. The process can evolve from the surprise, to a period of uncertainty or confusion, and then to our reaction such as joy (in the positive) or anger or fear (in the negative). Surprises can happen:

When something happens that we did not expect When something happens but it did not happen the way we thought it would happen (perhaps with different timing, different people, or different circumstances.) When something happens we never in our wildest dreams thought might happen which challenges our world view or our view of how we or others were living their lives When we expected something to happen, but it did........

© Psychology Today