With the holiday season behind us for yet another year, many memorable events remain etched in my mind from 2019.
As I look forward to this new year, I, like many, gaze with apprehensive eyes. For with each new day, we expect the same while hoping for brighter horizons. We seemingly cannot avoid apprehension as others voice their intentions of creating a better path, making more viable choices or even turning the page on a story seemingly written as a endless rerun.
Regardless of our intentions, be it our attempt to create a more productive self or to view others in a more empathetic light, we seemingly are forced to confront our own pessimistic thoughts as the days pass by us.
We must guard ourselves from the reoccurring pattern of contentment, which can many times overtake our desires for success and render us expecting little more than routine conformity to the skeletons of our past.
As quoted by Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher, “If you do not expect the unexpected, you will not find it, for it is not to be reached by search or trial.”
Although, I, many times, set out with the purest intentions of acceptance with the dawn of each new day, I, many times, falter and fail to see the good or expect more than the norm.
I was forced to confront my own pessimism recently at the hands of my 6-year old-daughter.
My youngest is well known to be the highly motivated comedian, who gives minimal thought to conforming to the everyday rules and procedures known as societal norms.
Rather, she normalizes experiences and her adventurous exploration, while thinking outside the box. It is not uncommon for her to develop a solution out of the air similar to the ‘80s television hit, “MacGyver,” all the while bearing a smile large enough to melt any questioning heart.
My child decided she wanted a “bunny” rabbit and commenced stopping at every wishing well and Santa Claus within the lower Missouri region over the past year voicing her request. I’m certain she even put more pressure on by voicing her request during her nightly prayers of thanks.
Now understand, her parents were not overly keen on the idea of an additional, living creature in the household even going so far as requesting the short life span model through the pet store. To our dismay, and through a barrage of store worker laughter, we came to discover those models were nonexistent.
The decision, following some soul searching, was made to answer the child’s request, and allow Santa to deliver the new family member on Christmas Eve.
My wife and I fully expected the little white bundle of joy to carry with it a day or two’s excitement then become like many of the other items, merely another chore for daddy or older sister to daily engage in till its eventual expiration.
Here I sit, two weeks later, bewildered at the resilience of not only little “Fluffy” the rabbit, but with my child.
Where I was certain she would falter and loose interest, she has remained committed. Where I expected the battle of responsibility, she has maintained and exceeded. Where I hoped, but maintained little faith, she has educated me. My child has proven herself and although short in duration, has stepped up to the plate and become a responsible caregiver.
Now, what remains? What is big ol’ dad left with other than a renewed vision of expecting not only what is expected, but additionally what is unexpected.
Yes, you guessed it, her sister, voicing her intent on pressuring Santa for a Hedge Hog … where on earth does one find a hedge hog?
Life, it seems, is riddled with the unexpected. If we merely open our eyes to the ultimate possibilities and the basic resilience of the human desire, we may just watch the unexpected unfold before our eyes.