Miami Heat

I think I am happiest or most content when I think less, “think” meaning prejudge, assume, expect, anticipate – I group all of these words into a negative, toxic bundle. For me, they are destructive. The flip side is to be open to everything and expect nothing – this gives you freedom from stress and the path to some happy unexpected moments. I remember when my kids were little and something big was coming up – a birthday party, a trip, a new bike - my mom would always warn me – "don’t tell them too much". I get it now (thanks mom) – life is so much more enjoyable when it just happens. Each time I told them, they began to prejudge, expect, anticipate and guess what; their expectation was always greater than the reality of the situation – disappointment. Whereas, if they did not know and here we are on a plane to the Magic Kingdom WOW – happiness.. I remember a much anticipated trip to the Miami Metro Zoo when my oldest was 6. He waited restlessly to get there to see the white Bengal tiger – for some reason, this was fascinating to him. He thought about it , we talked about it, it was paramount -  well, the day we made the long trek to south Miami to see this very new zoo and this exotic tiger was one of the hottest on record and the allusive tiger did not come out of his den! Disappointment…1000 miles from home in the Miami heat. His younger brother, on the other hand, had no expectations and whatever he saw was just great for him! His day unfolded and he was happy with those unexpected gifts of his day. My mother in law used to have a little phrase for this – “anticipation is greater than reality”. I have found this to be true most times.That's why we don't like to tell someone about something "good" that is about to happen, we might "jinx" it - no, you won't "jinx" it but what you will do is start prejudging it and in your mind, it will always be flawless and greater than the reality it will become. I suppose it's just a "glitch" we have - a defense to only allow our thoughts about our future to be "perfect"??

 So, I set forth on this journey of my day with as little anticipation and expectation as possible – I have to work on this – and I hope to, at the end of my day, have experienced and more importantly, noticed, the gifts that are there for me. I hope to carry this even further into a metaphysical realm and not prejudge the people in my life, not determine how “I” think they should be and instead, not only  accept, but celebrate  who they “are” , their true, beautiful, just like God intended being, because , after all, I am just the co – pilot; I have no credentials to fly this ship alone.

b u

p s