Expecting the Unexpected

I saw this t-shirt and thought about what it says: Doesn’t expecting the unexpected make the unexpected the expected?

Yup. Totally true.

Then I thought about how we continue to expect the unexpected in the various circumstances of life. Let’s say you have a friend, for example, who really hasn’t been any kind of friend at all, but you keep expecting that friend to miraculously change and become the friend you expect him/her to be. Except that you don’t actually believe he/she will change, thereby making the unexpected the expected.

Now that I’ve confused you . . .

It’s like the definition of stupidity – doing the same thing over and over, yet expecting different results. Well, maybe it’s not exactly the same, but it sort of is.

You can’t expect the unexpected.

The real unexpected things can come in good packages. Like when you are the only one in an office full of women whose husband has flowers delivered to you at work on Valentine’s Day. Or when the government audits your income tax return and the results are in your favour. Or when you get brave and do a crossword puzzle in pen and you finish it without making a mistake. Or you get a text message from your faraway cousin saying she prayed for you today. Those are the life moments – large or small – that make you smile and be thankful.

I’m not completely sure what the point of this blog is. I just saw the quote, decided to write about it and this is what came out. I do think there is something profound in all of this, however, and I’d like to be the philosopher who figures it all out, but that’s probably not going to happen.

So I’ll leave it to you to think about.