Imagine the Possibilities!
I used to wake up and wonder what surprise would be in store for me that day. I haven’t done that lately and I’m eager to resume that practice, because it was fun waking up with a sense of anticipation.
Often, my thoughts had to do with surprises at work, as I willed those to be positive ones! They didn’t have to be big surprises, but I went about my life on the lookout for possibilities. It brought an element of anticipation, making each day a loot bag filled with exciting surprises.
When I was little, my parents used to take us kids to Hatimi’s, the local candy store. At a time when the country couldn’t import a lot of foreign goods, somehow Hatimi’s managed to conjure up the most delightful knick-knacks. There were always wide-eyed kids at the shop window, gazing longingly at all the cute things – tiny fire engines laden with chocolates, Easter bunnies and huge hollow chocolate eggs filled with miniature surprises, fancy hard rock candies and gumballs. There was Bazooka bubble-gum with the cartoon strip inside. Everything would have come in from the UK and Switzerland, which in our minds were chocolate heavens.
More than the pleasure from eating the sweets, a big kick came from wandering down to the store with my parents, peering through the window for new goodies on display, entering the store and my parents buying me stuff. And my favourite part: Mr. Hatimi (I doubt that was his real name) always gave each kid a tiny brown bag with something in it, saying, “Open it when you reach home”. The sense of anticipation was palpable! I’d hold on to the bag the entire day, not wanting to open it and reveal the surprise, until I couldn’t bear it any longer. My joy came from imagining dozens of possibilities. I’d mentally “open” the bag and be gleefully surprised by whatever it was that I imagined.
When I finally opened the bag, there’d be a little toy inside, sometimes a cheery note attached to a trinket or candy, but always something cute and fun for a kid. Sometimes my imagined surprises were grander than the bag contents, but it didn’t matter to me by the time I opened the bag. That sense of anticipation while imagining the possibilities filled my entire day with wonder and fun. I love conceptual thinking, even now.
A gift from one of my sons for Mother’s Day – I had to imagine what was in the chocolate heart before breaking it open.
Often, trivial routines from childhood can shape the way we think and cultivate skills, if we recall them and use them in a constructive way. That can lead to fulfilling careers, hobbies and lives.
Yes, I’m going to wake up each day and wonder what surprise is in store for me. I’ll imagine the possibilities. If the “surprise” turns out to be breakfast cooked for me by my husband, or an invitation to a movie from a friend, I’ll accept it with gratitude and joy.
Email me: bernadette@gogettercoaching.com .