Maybe you can relate to the “ahas” that came out of an experience I had this week.

Tuesday was not really a day that I foresaw throwing me any major “surprises.” It would be a mellow one, with little planned outside of my favorite yoga class. The universe, obviously, had a surprise in store. Of course, you don’t see surprises coming. That’s the point. “No one expects a Spanish Inquisition.” Random Monty Python reference there, sorry ‘bout that.

Anyway, I strolled into yoga class. (Okay, I was running a bit late. So, here’s the reality. I probably plowed through the door.) Nevertheless, I was grounded and ready for yoga with one of my “favorite” teachers, in a class that, certainly, stretches me beyond my mental and physical limits. The class was familiar, known, and one that I have a certain “attachment” to.

That was my first mistake.

When we have an attachment to what something “should” look, sound, or be like, ironically, it increases the likelihood of there being some kind of surprise in store. It is rare for something to be “just as we thought it would be.”

I bounced off of the heat in the room like I had run into solid brick wall. 100 degrees. Unbeknown to me, I had joined a heated class. And, despite, all of my constant comments about wanting to try it, I didn’t expect that moment, TO BE NOW!

Like a dear caught in headlights, I froze. (Not gracefully I’ll have you know.) The other practitioners, albeit part of a small class, “looked” the part. Iced water bottle in hand. Suitable thin clothing. Smiling. This all stood in obvious contrast to my long pants, tank top, and metal water bottle. “The look of horror on Sarah’s face, priceless.”

Two minutes until class starts and a decision had to be made, fast. Run like mad, or stay and face my fear of the unknown. But something in me told me to take the risk. It was worth it and I reveled in it.

My awareness, my “aha,” was that the decision to join the class was really about my willingness to “get out of my groove” and look at the opportunity that I was given through surprise. I had to actually do what I feared, to get the real surprise, the gift of the “aha” itself. I realized that the actual moment when I “dove in” was when I was forced to grow. It wasn’t the class itself. The class had nothing to do with it. My lesson came through the actual decision to stay. Let’s face it; surprise leaves room for growth, even if it is born out of reluctance.

We all have had to reach out of our comfort zone, do something risky, and swim through the deep uncertainly pool that it creates. And, ironically, it often means making a decision to find the right times to run or stay.

My ego wanted me to run because it thought I was unsafe. My ego perceived that I wouldn’t be able to handle the heat, that it would overwhelm me. Yet, my spirit, that part of me that knew what was best for me, begged to differ. I’m glad I listened. I hope you do too, whatever that risk that hits you like a “brick wall” when you open the door.

Oh, and a tip: Those water bottles may be good for the environment, but they burn your hands like %#@#% in 100 degree + heat ☺