Surprise

People surprise me all the time.  And sometimes I am a surprise to others.  Why does that happen?  What makes it so difficult to be predictable and always understandable.

It is because of expectations and assumptions.  We generate these for others all day every day.  We consider what someone looks like and then form assumptions of what they think and feel like.  The way they talk, or dress, or dine makes us try to put them in a particular “box.”  This way we can be comfortable and understand them on our terms.

And people do that to us as well.  They see us coming, or hear us speak.  They look at the car we are driving and the clothes we are wearing and think they know us.  Other people judge our neighborhood and our home, as we do with them.

But none of these things define us as a person.  None of these things can truly show to the outside world what we are made of inside.  They may reflect certain feelings and wishes we have, but they don’t really indicate what makes us feel all the feelings we have as human beings, underneath the surface.

If we take the time to look at each other under the surface, we have the chance to be surprised, but in a forward moving way.  We have the chance to realize we are all so much more similar than we are different.  The opportunity exists to find deeper common connections like family, friendship, freedom, and love.

I urge you again today to look past the superficial things on the surface of our lives and personalities and find the deeper truth.  Try to find someone for who they really are, not what they outwardly display.