No one seems surprised anymore.
In today’s world, we seem to prioritize predictability in our lives.
For nine months, I found myself wondering who it would be.
Life can often feel like a flattened roller coaster. We can check tomorrow’s weather or get a slew of medical tests to understand our health risks, even tracking family histories. It might not be long before we can predict the exact year we’ll depart this world, with near-perfect accuracy.
Sure, planning is easier that way. And I think we all agree that one of the advantages of technology is its ability to eliminate uncertainty. No one really desires a more “exciting” check-up or unexpected flight, right?
Finding Joy in Surprise
However, I think the danger lies in how we might be erasing delightful surprises in our quest for certainty. It’s one thing to avoid anxiety; it’s another to miss out on those joyful moments that catch us off guard, like unwrapping a thoughtful gift and realizing that someone special has been thinking of you too.
Do you remember feeling that way when you were young? Embracing surprise requires a certain playful optimism—something that’s perhaps easier to tap into when we’re younger.
For me, the most meaningful surprise came when I became a father.
The Waiting Game
You plan for the best future possible and wait, not for a day, but for nine months. And then one day, it’s time to rush to the hospital. More waiting ensues as your partner goes through labor.
Then, in a single breathtaking moment, you find out whether you have a son or a daughter. There’s simply nothing that compares to that surprise.
These days, though, many parents want to know the gender ahead of time, often opting to take a test as soon as they can. I get it—anticipating parenthood is thrilling, and knowing whether it’s a boy or girl brings a whole new dimension of excitement. After all, who is that little person growing inside?
Waiting can feel excruciating. With a quick call to the doctor, all the answers can be laid out before you.
Getting that news lets you shop for the right clothes or paint the nursery the appropriate color. Honestly, even that brief phone call is a small surprise in itself.
The Joy of the Unknown
Yet, I think waiting can actually be better. We wait for our children, and honestly, nothing else in life quite matches that extraordinary moment when they enter the world. When they emerge from the safety of their mother’s womb, we are flooded with possibilities.
Seeing them for the first time, we learn at least that much about their identity: “It’s a girl!” or “It’s a boy!”
The waiting period has its challenges. There’s excitement but also anxiety. For those nine months, I wondered who would arrive. But in the crucial moments right before holding him, I learned he was taking that very first breath.
Unforeseen Surprises
The second time was different; we thought we would have another boy—our first was a boy, so why wouldn’t this one be? It felt almost certain, a gut feeling that, ironically, turned out to be wrong. On that chilly November morning, another unexpected revelation awaited.
Waiting for the answer feels like a kind of torture. We know someone is there, yet we don’t know if we’re having a son or a daughter; the joy of not knowing builds a sort of tension. It’s a question we hold until that moment of bliss when we finally get to find out. It’s exhilarating, and regardless of what we discover, it’s simply wonderful.
The greatest surprise in life, I think, is just that—life itself. Babies are a new beginning, a beautiful, innocent promise of the future. We wait to get a glimpse of who they might become, holding them in our arms and gazing into their tiny, curious eyes, perhaps silently asking, “Who will you turn out to be?”
Life, at its core, remains full of surprises.
