September 4, 2013

Expect the Unexpected

By Tammy Derouin

Life is surviving the unexpected.  We can plan and prepare for many situations but there’s always an unexpected factor that comes into play. We think we are headed in one direction when all of a sudden something happens and we end up on a different path.

I attend a yearly writers’ conference at Maranatha.  Each year I walk away with a feeling or theme that seemed to reoccur throughout the conference.  Last year it was, “Expect the Unexpected.” 

So what is the unexpected?  It’s everything you didn’t plan or didn’t think would happen.  On the large scale, it’s watching the United States fall apart.  I never expected that I would witness the end of the greatest country in the world.  I never expected that our country would go from super power status to insignificant in five short years.  I never expected the United States would go from the land of opportunities to the land of entitlements and handouts.  I would have never believed that the people would be willing to give up their liberties to be subsidized.

In my own little world, I never expected to be divorced with children.  I never expected to experience the circumstances that led to the divorce.  I never expected the opportunities that surfaced once that final piece of straw landed on my camel’s back crossing my line, causing a shot to be heard, a battle to be fought, which led to my independence.  My life was intact, my liberty was renewed.  I had the freedom to pursue my happiness. 

The unexpected also means change.  Change isn’t something that is always welcomed.  Even when we know the situation is in dire need of an adjustment, the adjustment that occurs may be completely unexpected.  When a situation, which is typically a problem, is ignored and allowed to fester, we end up dealing with a much bigger problem. We have the ability to turn things around.  We have the map.  It’s still readable.  It’s our guide, our compass that must be followed to steer our country back on track.  Are we going to decide where we go or will we let the government continue to steer us?   We will decide by determination or default, which direction we will go.

When I hear key words such as transform, turning things around or going in a different direction, I’m very cautious.  We, as individuals, have very different ideas as to what is implied when such words or phrases are spoken.  We want to assume it’s all for the best.  But our goals aren’t the same.  What is beneficial to one can be harmful to others. 

I have learned that sometimes things have to get worse before they get better.  To what degree depends on how long the problem goes unchecked.  There are too many people who still believe all is well, it can’t happen here.  They won’t realize how much of a transformation we have gone through until something affects them.  When it does, as situations always catch up to everyone, they will rely on what they assumed to be true.  That’s when the reality of the transformation will be realized.  The ideals we cling to will be gone.  The freedoms we took for granted will have slipped away.  One by one they will disappear if we continue to ignore the problem.  Why does it have to go to extremes to get people to wake up?  When did we become so complacent? 

I never expected the safe haven to be so broken and on the verge of collapse.  What was once a sanctuary is slowly becoming a prison.  The colorful dream, the place that gives hope has lost its way.  Its value has been diminished, its traditions made irrelevant.  If the past doesn’t support the transformation, it will simply be erased.

Life has been a little bit different these past several weeks.  I didn’t expect to go down this path.  I guess I should have expected the unexpected.  So on that note, let’s have a little fun in an unexpected direction.

Maybe next week I’ll come out swinging.  Maybe the news will have me seething.  I do not know what I’ll propose.  I do not know what the future holds.  One thing that I do now know, took many teachings to unfold.  Knowledge is what knowledge knows so what do you think you should suppose?   Suppose you plan but don’t expect to never know…what to expect.

“You have brains in your head.  You have feet in your shoes.  You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.  You’re on your own.  And you know what you know.  You are the guy who’ll decide where to go.”

Dr. Seuss