Surprise!

When I had my hair done on Friday, it was one of my best friends who cut, coloured, and styled my locks. And something that she did for me was the perfect bonus to an already significant experience. Since she is a professional hairdresser, she has all of the tools of the trade in her home, including a salon chair and folding mirror. Well, once I was sitting in the chair, but before she began working on my transformation, she told me that she wanted to cover the mirror so that I would get a big reveal when everything was done. I loved the idea!

And that’s exactly what happened. I didn’t get to see anything that was going on as she worked on my tresses. She cut, foiled, and washed my hair all without me seeing what it looked like. When she started to use the blow dryer I even closed my eyes to avoid seeing the final colour in case strands were to wisp across my face.

When the moment came for me to see the new me, I was more than ready. She pulled back the mirrors from their folded position and my jaw dropped! Was that me?! I couldn’t believe it! Gone was the simply do I had donned for two decades and in its place was a gorgeous mane of stylish, blonde locks. I loved it! I absolutely loved it!

The thing that I have realized over the last couple of days is that the astonishment I felt at seeing myself suddenly transformed like that is just the most recent surprise in a very long, ever-growing list. I have had more unexpected, pleasant experiences that I ever could have dreamed of because I decided to undertake this journey.

I have discovered bones which were too long hidden beneath layers of fat. I found that there is joy to be had from running. I can wrap the bath towel all the way around me. I easily outlast the majority of the people I know in exercises requiring stamina. I am able to put my weight loss in perspective by recognizing that I have lost the equivalent of a slender female.

Each of these achievements – and countless others – came as total shocks at different points over the last eleven months. So many things have been surprises as my body, my abilities, and my perspective has changed. And, just like my new hair style, I love it all!

There is a special kind of joy to be gained from those moments of unanticipated delight. It is a wonderful feeling to suddenly be given a gift that wasn’t expected. It’s an even better experience when – though we may not realize it’s what we are doing at the time – we are the one who wrapped the surprise up and placed a bow on it in the first place.

FOOD & BEVERAGES:
- 4 glasses of water
- 1 pan-fried banana and light peanut butter wrap on a soft tortilla shell
- 3/4 cup fat free peach yogurt with 1 cup corn bran square cereal
- 1 nectarine
- 1 blueberry muffin
- 1 1/2 cups vanilla ice cream with sprinkles and chocolate chips
- 1 fig
- 1 1/2 cups dried mango
- 2 cups pineapple
- 3 glasses pomegranate berry flavoured water
- 20 whole grain tortilla chips
- 1/2 large ear corn on the cob with butter
- 3 cups imitation crab meat with a mayonnaise and seafood sauce blended dip
- 2 cups mint chocolate bar ice cream blend

EXERCISE:
- 15 minute walk
- 3 1/2 hours of shifting, loading, and unloading moving boxes