Are You Able To Surprise Yourself?

Over the years, life can become more and more routine, even boring. The same schedule every week for work, the same activities to do in free time, similar ways to spend the weekends… Little by little the monotony takes up space and, once established, rarely goes away. Have you assessed whether you are still capable of surprising yourself?

Adding a dash of excitement, fun and surprise to everyday life is very beneficial to our mental and emotional health. Now, being surprised is not an easy task. How to do this? Keep reading and find out!

The surprise: between unconsciousness and passivity

There are people who often feel overwhelmed by their feelings. Their lack of perspective causes them to be moody, depressed, or pessimistic. At the other extreme, we find individuals who are aware of their emotions, but who are limited to accepting them passively. They always maintain an attitude of resignation and indolence.

In the middle of both poles, there is the terrain of people capable of surprising themselves. Those who base their lives on acceptance, awareness and domination of their feelings. Their emotional lives are richer, they are more autonomous and they are more self-assured.

Get out of your comfort zone: the best way to surprise yourself

The surprising is rarely in your comfort zone. We all have a natural tendency for the known. Therefore, in the face of the unknown, we prefer that terrain where we feel comfortable and protected. Having nothing to disturb us, we have no need to leave.

However, for personal development to occur, it is convenient to break this barrier of comfort and see what lies beyond. Every step you take outside your comfort zone will give you a new perspective on the world. No matter how small, it will provide something different, new, attractive or enriching.

test your limits

To surprise yourself, you don’t need to perform practices that put your health or your physical or psychological well-being at risk. You simply have to test the limits of your mind. Why? The answer is that your brain prefers to be conservative and maintain its automatisms and heuristics. Its maxim is the principle of cognitive economy or the law of least effort. It is not trained to eliminate pre-established barriers.

For this reason, before deciding to dare or leave something as it is, your mind will always give you more reasons to choose the less risky and easier option. That is, it will sabotage your desire to excel. For example, if your dream is to be a singer, the first thing you’ll do is try to get it out of your head. For this, you will use all kinds of excuses: you are already too old, it is very difficult to become someone in this world, you are not really prepared, you would be disappointed…

This is because we are programmed to protect ourselves from harm and to maintain a state of alert against disturbing stimuli. Therefore, training your conscious mind in the positive is one of the most difficult tasks, but its benefits are worth the effort.

Go back to your past… And get over it

Ask yourself what you’ve always wanted most. What you regret or didn’t get. And most importantly, look for reasons why you haven’t achieved those past dreams. What stopped you?

If the answer is your attitudes or your prejudices, then it is very likely that with effort you will find a way to surprise yourself. Remember that the brain always chooses the decision that requires the least effort. Your will is one that can fight conformism.

do something ridiculously unexpected

Hit the dance floor or hit the karaoke. Read a book in a single day. Do a new activity, like camping or diving. Try exotic food. Put on a set of fancy clothes. There are many ways to test your sense of the ridiculous.

Let go of thoughts like “What will they think of me?”, “I would never do that”, “That’s crazy!”. If you want something to change, do it differently. Try to do activities that amuse you, motivate you, and lift your spirits. It is possible that the best is yet to come.

If you feel embarrassed or worry too much about what to say, go back to the beginning of the first problem: staying in your comfort zone. This paralyzes your efforts to surprise yourself.

reclaim part of your childhood

Children have an enviable ability to be surprised by almost anything. Everything catches your attention. However, your innocence and desire to explore diminish as you grow, but it is always possible to invoke the child within you to rediscover yourself.

In fact, when we’re little and are given a choice among many toys, we often choose what we really love. Our choice is not subject to outside influences or interests of any kind. So, if you want to be surprised, put aside your prejudices, ties, obsessions and taboos.  Recover moments from your childhood.

Dare to think. Allow yourself to surprise yourself. Let your imagination fly and visualize yourself anywhere else in the world. Create the life you want and not the one imposed on you. Let the geometry of your consciousness crumble for a moment. Be creative, innovate. Anything that hasn’t been invented is probably in the future.