Pleasant Surprises . . .

You go places and you plan events with family and friends. You have high expectations of how much fun it will be. You remember days of old or even just last year. You all excitedly get together and darn….. what a let down. You all keep a happy face as best you can and say oh well, we were together. You say, there is always next year or next time. Obviously, everyone IS let down and it was NOT what we had expected. Things do get in the way, though, sometimes weather, sometimes people not being able to all make it, and now there is Covid.

That was the way with our annual Pumpkin Patch trip. The pumpkin patches all said they were open. We went to our favorite one which involved a lot of driving and to our dismay it was not fully open. It was even more driving for some of the family because they came from 2 hours away to begin with. All you could do was walk around and look at the variety of pumpkin and squash to purchase. Oh well, we all said. We took some pictures and said the obligatory things about being together was what mattered and that there is always next year. (Why did I suddenly think of the Chicago Cubs there?)

One day, when Cody and Shelby still lived at home, Cody and I were bored and we decided, hey we can go camping! We informed Dad when he came home from work and we packed everything up and went and set up site at Fox Ridge which is not far from our house. We rushed back in to town to meet Shelby who should be getting home from school. We told her to pack her stuff we were camping tonight. She had to go to work soon and was working until 10:00 p.m. We told her to pack her stuff and we would take her to work and pick her up afterward. What a great time we had then! Everyone was excited.

We love the unplanned spur of the moment events! We have a lot of those times. We often just jump up and go. Sometimes we wake up and decide to go visit one of our children or to go on a short trip. Some people just are not able to do something if it is not planned. If you are one of those people, please lighten up and try to do it. It is so nice. You have no idea what the day may bring.

One Sunday morning we were getting ready for church and a friend of the children called as we were supposed to pick him up for church. He said, hey can we skip today and go exploring. We picked him up and took off driving and stopped wherever we wanted along the way. What a great day that was. God may not have liked that we “skipped” out, but we did. I am glad that we could lighten up and go do a friend’s request. For whatever reason, he must have needed that and we all enjoyed the day with lots of laughter.

Also, there are the times when you are out and about that just happen to turn in to one of the best times you have had. Nothing was planned, nothing special was going on, it just happened. That has happened so many, many times. One just happened recently which prompted me to post this. There were only three of us. It was just an ordinary night and all of a sudden, we were laughing and singing and dancing and having the best time ever! It is great in another way because all that week, you think about those good times and smile and this leads you to having a better week than you normally may have had.

There have been many other such events that were planned, and unplanned even, that have turned out to be a let down. Do not allow the let downs to stop you, keep going. Then, there are the pleasant surprises that can be the very best. Do not stop planning and do not stop the impromptu! You never know when you will have one of the best and happiest times. Go with the flow. Always laugh. Do not be afraid to laugh even if it is at yourself. Keep looking for the good times and keep smiling, there are not enough good times. Make your own. You will be surprised at how nice it feels to smile and more so to laugh.