The Power of Surprise
Do you have childhood memories of awe-inspiring experiences that gave you unexpected insights into life's mysteries? One of the joys of spending time with children is witnessing those small moments when their eyes light up with surprise, understanding, and delight.
As adults, these moments occur far less frequently, and we seldom pause to notice or gaze in wonder. We've been conditioned to believe we need to know the answers, leaving little space to ponder whether what we think we know is truly all there is to know.
We rely on our experiences for confidence and our ingrained automatic behaviors to create stability in our lives. We call this routine; however, one could argue that it's also a form of being stuck. The more we depend on mindless actions to navigate our days, the less agile we become when facing the unexpected. Paradoxically, it's through breaking these routines that we invite something new to emerge—a fresh way of thinking, a novel perspective, and the possibility of creative problem-solving and innovation.
At our core, we are all natural problem solvers. Even children's play revolves around tackling challenges. However, as we grow older, our perception of problems shifts. They cease to be creative opportunities where surprise leads to reward. Instead, problems transform into unwelcome, irritating issues that drain our attention, energy, and time—ultimately causing stress rather than sparking insight.
PAUSE IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN STRESS AND INSIGHT
What’s the difference between the kind of surprise that brings insight and the kind that brings uncertainty and stress?
Surprise is unpredictable, and planning for it would seem like welcoming uncertainty, more uncertainty, into our lives. Uncertainty is not something humans like very much, yet it’s all around us. It's one of the most constant facets of life. Yes, it’s a bit of a paradox.
Without pause, surprise causes us to react. The unexpected jolts us. As we try to keep things steady to feel in control, our ingrained reactive protective behaviors become our dependable way of being. It’s said that under stress, we fall back on our training, which is why we must retrain how we respond to stressful situations by learning how to harness Power-Pausing.
SURPRISE WITH INTENT
When we pause to notice, listen, and ask more questions, we give space for something new to emerge. This can change how we think and reshape the internal dialog that we have with ourselves all day long and the conversations with others. When we choose to pause and listen more deeply to someone else's perspective before we rush to respond, we can suspend and question our narrative and learn something new. Surprise is the essence of discovery and learning, yet we give little space to pausing in our busy lives.
CREATIVITY LIVES IN THE GAP BETWEEN THINKING AND DOING.
New ideas and creative solutions come to us in the pauses between activities. When busy doing our work and living, we miss the surprises that can inspire positive change, transformation, and growth. That’s why ideas and solutions appear in the shower or just before sleep—that moment when we stop thinking and start being present in a non-doing way.
To cultivate this kind of presence in our work, we can pause on purpose, allowing ourselves to connect, communicate, and collaborate with more curiosity but also innovate and problem-solve more effectively. That’s what Power-Pausing is all about—creating space for our mind to do what it does best, solve problems, and do so with new and inspired thinking.
CHANGE IS THE BRIDGE BETWEEN SURPRISE AND SOMETHING NEW
Without pause, we overthink and get stuck in old thoughts over and over again; yes, the tape in our minds is running on repeat.
To get unstuck, we must become conscious of our unconscious, automatic, ingrained behaviors and patterns. This is not a decision we make but rather a moment of pause during which we let change happen. Where our intention to let something new emerge lets our attention linger in the unknown for just a moment. The moment where wondering becomes insight.
Pausing is not an activity; it’s a moment, a gap in time, where we suspend doing and stay present with an attitude of curiosity. It’s something we can practice and discover when we reflect on our habits and behaviors. We are conditioned to be doing something all the time and we think of peak performance as pushing harder to do more, and many think of downtime is slack time. We are not in the practice of giving our mind the space it needs to thrive.
Change is in the pause where we allow the power of surprise to let insight happen. The "Aha!" moments require pause.
