The other day my hubby asked me what I’d like as an anniversary gift. I thought for a moment and then said ‘oh, I don’t know, why don’t you surprise me?’

Our anniversary arrives and there I am, sitting at the kitchen table sipping my morning cuppa tea. In front of me is a lovely little box. With much trepidation and excitement, off came the silver ribbon, off came the turquoise lid…and out came a gift certificate. Okay, not quite what I was anticipating, but I plodded on with high hopes. Inside I read ‘Happy Anniversary~my gift to you~an evening of firearm instruction.’

Huh? Really? Next step was a heated discussion along the lines of:

Me: ‘What were you thinking?’

Hubby: ‘You said you wanted a surprise?’

Me: ‘But I meant something I’d want?’ (now looking hurt and bewildered)

Hubby: ‘You mean you don’t want it? But it’s a great present!’ (now looking hurt and bewildered)

If you are by now wondering why I’m sharing this with you — I got to thinking about ‘manifesting’ and how we often don’t give the right message out to the Universe. Maybe we don’t just say ‘surprise me’, but we certainly may put out ambivalent messages about what we do want. For example, how many times do you hear people saying ‘I want to be rich’. The Great Goodness doesn’t differentiate how that comes your way and it might surprise you. What if that richness comes from your house burning down, all your possessions being destroyed, but the insurance company comes through with an enormous check! That’s rich! Or how about ‘I want to be famous’ and the Great Goodness delivers up a one-in-a-million nasty disease that gets you interviewed by Oprah! Not much fun! Get the picture?

It’s important to dream and to wish and it’s important to fill in some details. However, it still is nice to have some surprises. What’s a gift if you pick it out yourself? What’s life if you pick out every single detail?

So, my learning experience here is that next time hubby asks me what I want, I’ll be a little more specific. I might go with ‘I’d like a piece of jewelry’ or ‘a new brooch would be nice, honey’. And when I’m manifesting my dreams, I’ll be more specific too.

And at the end of the day, when life hands you lemonades…I’m going to take firearm instruction, who knows where that may lead? Maybe I’ll make new friends, maybe I’ll find I’m good at it and I’ll take up a new hobby, maybe I’ll get a kick out of learning how to handle a gun, maybe I’ll hate it and will never go again. What I will get is a new experience which I hadn’t signed-up for.

Whatever happens in life, enjoy the ride and make the best of it. You never know what will come along next. But right now, I’m thinking that I’ll probably end up with a new brooch in the shape of a gun! LOL!