Staring out the window, more than 10,000 feet above ground, my mind rehearsed the memories of the weekend. From the familiarity of the swim/dive meet to the snowflakes that surprised me, the details of the visit delighted my senses.

While I love the familiar, I do crave a sprinkle of surprise in the mix of life. The drive to the small town was familiar. The rain that became snow was a definite surprise. My cropped pants and paper-thin jacket told that story.

Several minutes into my daydreaming/weekend rehearsing, a sudden flash of light caught my attention. The night sky had been previously interrupted by the flashing light on the wing outside my window. I looked to see if it had turned off, but it was still casting its light unwaveringly. Just as I was settling into my reminiscing trance, it happened again.

Have you ever seen Christmas lights set to music? If you haven’t, now is a good time to start googling [you’re welcome]. As I turned my attention beyond the end of the wing, I saw the most spectacular surprise. The clouds were randomly illuminating as if they were set to music. I’m not exaggerating. An entire cloud would light up and then dance off in the distance.

I was watching a lightning storm from a new vantage point, and I was not sorry. Lightning storms have always intrigued me because they appeal to my senses. The sky tends to be familiar, but the lightning adds surprise. It is, after all, difficult for my non-meteorologist self to predict.

My eyes remained fixed on the vastness of the sky for the remainder of the flight, and my face housed a smile for much longer. Sometimes what I perceive as a surprise is only a shift in perspective. The lightening was visible from the ground and from above the clouds. Someone standing on the ground saw what I saw, from a different perspective.

My lightening surprise reminded me of this simple truth, there’s always another way to look at things. The lightning above the clouds looks a bit different from the lightning we see from the ground. One perspective does not disqualify the other. Both are valid.

When you find yourself burdened by the familiarity of the moment, try looking at it from a different perspective. Instead of seeing the inconvenience of the rain, delight yourself in the unseasonably green grass. Maybe the long delay on the highway allowed you to hear a song that encouraged your soul and lifted your mood. You never know when a surprise awaits you.

Sometimes-what we don’t know we need is born in what we don’t think we want. Go ahead, take a look at the other side of the story. A slight change in perspective might reveal greater purpose, compassion, and understanding. Consider the surprise that awaits in all things familiar if we will take time to look.

#momentoftruthmonday #perspectives #familiar #surprise #lifelesson

P.S.-this video did not capture the storm my eyes witnessed. Trust me when I say the entire cloud would light up, I just never had my phone recording when it happened. Classic.