Contributed by Laura E. Rios.

As surely as winter follows fall, spring arrives at the end of winter. This repeating cycle comes every year. Most of us happily anticipate the changes that spring brings along, like nature’s beauty, longer days, and warmer weather. There are undesirable situations that we know are coming too, such as the annual tornado season, the IRS income tax deadline, and so on.

Obviously, something as inevitable as spring can also bring surprises. Some surprises are pleasant ones. One year we had a volunteer giant sunflower sprout in the back yard. An errant sunflower seed from the bird feeder brought us the most amazing six-foot-tall beauty, totally free! It was so fun to watch it grow. I felt like Mother Nature had presented me with a wonderful and unexpected gift.

Another spring, I bought a new hanging plant and brought it home and hung it on the front porch. Then, a pair of mourning doves surprised me by building their nest in it. So, I sacrificed the impatiens plant and instead, I spent the spring watching a pair of doves raise their family. That was an unpleasant surprise that ended up being a happy one.

This spring we’ve been surprised by hailstorms, increasing gas prices, and a dental emergency, and it’s only April. But, if not for those things, it would most certainly be something else, because as Gilda Radners’s Roseanne Rosannadanna used to say, “It’s always something”.

Daily life really does fling something new at us all the time, like bird droppings on your freshly cleaned windshield. Charles R. Swindoll said “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you deal with it.” He would have been good friends with Roseanne Rosannadanna. They shared a similar attitude about dealing with surprises.

Ultimately, it’s healthiest to embrace the surprises that come our way, whether they are pleasant or unpleasant. We might as well expect good things as well as bad, since they’re both part of life. They can come any time of the year, so we can always be on the lookout for them. Keeping a positive mental attitude and remaining flexible are good strategies for dealing with whatever this spring throws at you. Surprise!

The Image accompanying this item is royalty-free from Pixabay.