The bold businessman exclaimed, “I'm expecting sales to increase four fold in the next year,” and the quaintly dressed woman commented, “I'm expecting that every item in the store will be on sale in the next few days.” “I'm expecting this, and I'm expecting that,” politicians, bankers, mothers and fathers, sisters, brothers and all those who are around are “expecting” certain events and experiences in their lives for the next year. It' a positive outlook, and therefore most of the items expected are positive in nature. But what about the “unexpected?” Is there any way to accommodate when an unexpected event or experience occurs? Is there a way to expect the unexpected?
For instance, who says this? “Well, I was expecting to get a bad report from my doctor,” or “I was expecting to get that terrifying phone call about my teenager,” or “I was expecting to have my home destroyed, foreclosed upon or filled with termites.” Some of these suggestions might be expected, but more than likely they are not part of the hopes for the coming year. Maybe there is a way to “Expect the Unexpected” without becoming so negative.
What if there was a plan for expected and unexpected things to occur next year? What if by some stroke of genius a person could plan for interruptions? In other words, whatever one is expecting for the next year he or she could also expect that there will be unexpected events as well such as: The unexpected accident or the unexpected election; the unexpected doctor visit or the unexpected loss. Maybe the mindset should be like this, “This next year I expect to be prosperous, lose some weight, receive advancement on my job, get a job, have my candidate elected, live healthy, happy and free, but nonetheless, I shall expect that somewhere along my path there will be an interruption or two. I will continue forward no matter what shall transpire, and when the unexpected arrives before me, I shall deal with it accordingly.”
The key to managing the unexpected is to expect that the unexpected shall come, then the unexpected will become the expected so that the expected may become the unexpected which is expected to occur.
Until tomorrow...Happy New Year! (You weren't expecting that, were you?)
Look for the new devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation” in all major bookstore sites, www.amazon.com ; www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, find locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore
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