Off guard

Sometimes, in the middle of going about what you thought was  your business, your life…,  you are caught unawares, by surprise… by events, by people, by  plain old destiny, or, if it turns out to be a positive thing, by what I like to look upon as synchronisms.

In rare cases these occurrences may be life changing, depending on what they are, on whom you are, and how you react.

More often than not, though, they may initially lift you off your feet and rattle you, as if you were a rag doll, without the ability to act or react. But once you have caught your breath, realigned your tie (if you’re a man, something of your choice if you’re a woman), brushed your hair (if you have some) into place and got your heart and head around them, so to speak, you can move on, shaken and stirred. Sometimes richer, sometimes still wide eyed and surprised, but always all the more wiser.

The most baffling phenomena are often related to people. If they are strangers, and you have no inkling as to their innate characteristics, the shock may be great. But the impact on you, your feelings and your life, are usually neither great nor lasting, due to their peripheral relation and importance to you.

If, on the other hand, the person in question is someone you thought you knew, had more or less figured out, mapped and categorized, the aftershocks of the quake, the aftermaths of the revelations, are  more disturbing, more influencal.

Frequently, it turns out, there is more to a person than meets the eye; little by little, or sometimes quite suddenly, you realize there is much more “under the skin” of that human being than you had ever imagined.

You feel taken off guard, by words or actions, but even more so by the reverberation they evoke within you, of feelings and thoughts, either long forgotten or suppressed, or never really fully experienced. Welcome or unwanted, but indisputably a revelation and an awakening.  

After such an experience, one may wish to go back to former ignorance, previous uncorrupted innocence of not knowing, not experiencing, not, in some case, indulging. It is all irrefutable. But how we choose to go on, when it comes to both feelings and dealings is not.

Sometimes the most unexpected, intense and mind unsettling experiences may lead to added insight, tolerance, closeness, alertness, motivation. Causing you to treasure and pursue new or awakened aspects of your life, parallel with an increased appreciation of what you already have. Optimally, if wisely contemplated and administered, this will enhance not only your own quality and scope of life, but also that of people around you.