Good surprises vs bad surprises
I always thought I liked surprises. Now I am just realizing I only like good surprises. Surprises that I want. Surprises that don’t make me feel unhappy, misunderstood, irritated and panicked.
Duh, right?
We had a fun surprise Sunday night. Our kitchen faucet finally broke (it had been dripping for weeks). It’s not a big deal at all in the long run, but we had to spend our evening cleaning up the mess and buying a new faucet. Then finding a plumber the next day to fix it. It just wasn’t what I wanted to deal with after being gone all weekend. But I think we handled it well.
And the exciting news is that our facuet now has a sprayer and we can have water fights in the kitchen:
Things I have not been handling well lately? That would be surprises at work. I am a bit of a planner when it comes to work (and sometimes life) and when something gets thrown at me that I am not expecting, I really do not handle it well. I feel unprepared, and panicked and anxious about the unknown. I am trying to just “go with the flow,” but I am struggling. I am in a constant state of anxiety lately. Ugh.
What’s on your list for good surprises and bad surprises?
I had a bad surprise when I hit publish on this and my website crashed. Ugh.
Themocracy
Ugh, bad surprises are the worst. I’m glad you were able to remedy the sink- what a pain!
On Friday my boss called me because she wanted to talk to me about a change to my compensation.
I was expecting an off-cycle raise (good surprise!).
Turned out they are taking bonuses away at my level (BAD surprise).
The nature of my job is full of good and bad surprises so I guess I am getting better at going with the flow. But generally I am too much of a planner and panic a little too when my routine gets changed up.
Ugh! That sucks! 🙁
Any tips on not panicking as much, since you are dealing with it too?
Bad surprises are terrible. I don’t even like good surprises most of the time. I like playing on an even emotional level most of the time. Borking I know 🙂
I totally hear you on being a planner, and not liking when things come at you that you’re not expecting. Hang in there.
I’ve had more than my fair share of bad surprises lately, so I totally understand. (Seriously, if you want to hear about the major suck-fest I’ve been living through, I’d be happy to email you about it. I don’t want to take up your entire blog airing my grievances.)
As much as I’m not a very religiousy person, this famous quote has been popping into my head a lot. Maybe it will help you, too.
Grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Finally, kitchen sink sprayer = awesome! One of the best April Fool’s jokes I’ve ever done was to rubberband the sprayer and aimed it just right so when someone turned on the sink, they unsuspectingly got sprayed in the face. (That someone was my little sister. I’m mean.)
I only like good surprises. I’d rather not have surprises altogether, though. I like being able to plan for things in advance.
Sorry to hear about your sink, but at least you get a new faucet that you really like!
I really hate surprises at work, too. I’m definitely a big planner and I hate having to rearrange my plans, especially when it’s because other people can’t plan well.
I used to go totally berserk when things like a broken faucet or a change at work came up. Now, I tend to get a little obsessive over fixing things or getting the new thing done ASAP so I can go back to what I was doing before.
I am not so good with any sort of surprises. I am such a planner that it makes me feel out of control. I agree that work surprises are the absolute worst. I immediately go into panic mode.
I want a faucet with a sprayer too! I don’t like surprises. I just don’t react too well in unexpected situations. I think it’s the control freak in me 🙂
Im a big time planner too. I hate it when something unexpected comes up and ruins “the plan.” So I guess I’m not big into surprises.
Good surprises often include my kids! Bad surprises usually involve a project at work, usually amounting to minimal damage, luckily.
I haven’t had too many surprises lately – My work is sometimes not plan-able and it stinks but I think I have gotten used to it.
I had a bad surprise at work myself today. Ruined my whole day.