Engaging the Surprise

A couple of weeks ago, a surprise greeted me at the fitness center. I have been participating in various classes to see whether they and I are a good match for exercise. I love yoga and enjoyed the step aerobics. One week, I missed aerobics, so I decided to try something new--body sculpt.

I entered the classroom, went to the instructor, and said that I was new to the class but wanted to try it. I didn't notice the mounted bags sitting around the room until the instructor replied, "Oh okay, you can borrow these. They're clean." She promptly tossed padded gloves on top of one of the bags.

It dawned on me that this didn't seem to be body sculpting. I went out of the room and checked the schedule. What I thought was going to be one thing was going to be something unexpected--circuit contact kickboxing. I was too embarrassed to go in and say that I had changed my mind. So I went back in and pulled the gloves over my hands.

The surprise came with the first few punches. I liked it. I punched harder and kicked harder. I focused on the bag and beat it. It felt good. Therapeutic. I thought I would be a wimp, poop out, and look foolish. But I didn't. I kept up. I worked hard. I was satisfied with myself.

There is something good about engaging with the surprise, even the scary ones. The surprise may be a surprise. In this case the surprise came in multiples. I was surprised that I had committed to a class that I would not have considered trying. Seeing the gloves surprised me and shook my insecure self. Finding that I liked beating a bag surprised me. And being that fit surprised me. So one small error on my part became a source of many surprises--happy surprises.

Surprises change us, stretch us, move us, transform us. That is why God uses them. Our part is to notice them and engage with them. They are an invitation to find the surprise within the surprise.