I spent the week-end in Santa Monica observing my eldest sons’ 40^th birthday.  He elected to celebrate this momentous occasion by joining a six week long trapeze course so he could celebrate his birthday by hurtling through the air. The culminating event was a performance on the Santa Monica Pier and his father and I, in conjunction with my two other sons and assorted well wishers, all looked forward to the exhibition of daring aerial feats.

The performance day arrived with lots of sunshine and high winds which threatened to blow us all away.  Fortunately the wind birds were able to awe and delight us with their skills 30 feet off the ground in spite of the powerful exhibition of Hermes’ prowess and everyone were delighted.  

After the show my husband and I decided to walk to the restaurant where the birthday lunch was scheduled to be consumed.  

Santa Monica is home to a great variety of humanity.  Amongst them was a young man wandering the streets starring at the sidewalk.  All of a sudden he swooped down cupping a shiny green object in his hand.  After a brief examination he knew he had found a wrapped chocolate kiss.  His face filled with pure delight as he popped the treasure into his mouth and he continued to walk with a beatific smile on his lips.

Discovery of unexpected delight is also true for HypnoBirthing® students.  They study and practice and do their best to shed unwanted and harmful preconceptions regarding birth.  Most of them are successful in dumping the unwanted luggage and they state they are prepared for a great birth.  Even so, time and again mothers surprise themselves by having a great birth as evidenced by their testimony.  Their birth stories are filled with wonder and awe that they were able to birth with a light level of discomfort and free of interventions.  The same is true for the mothers who report that they accepted some level of intervention.  They still state that their birth was amazing and wonderful and much better than they expected. 

Perhaps unexpected delight surpasses expected pleasure and all of us will be well served by accepting life as it comes.