Surprise!

It’s tough to pull off a good surprise. For a party. In the middle of a speech or lecture or sermon. At a concert or half-time show.Perhaps even tougher than pulling it off for an audience, though, is letting ourselves be surprised.Nothing seems surprising anymore. No suspense, no big unveiling, no revelation of the unknown.But surprises are a critical part of learning and growth. A surprise reminds you that you don’t know it all, you don’t control it all, and you don’t always know how to access the information to know or control it all. Surprise insists that part of growing is to always have space, out of our direct management, for learning and discovery and wonder.Part of showing up and giving your best gift to the world is leaving room to be surprised, to grow, to learn. And while you are the expert at your thing—maybe the best in the world at it—you will be even better tomorrow if you leave room for surprise and discovery.So, go be a child. Be curious. Leave room for surprise and discovery.