Emotions: Surprised.

Well, what a surprise! Eh? We all like surprises if they are pleasant, exciting, and welcome. That unexpected treat, that amazing night out, that special someone who turns up out of the blue…   The emotion of surprise is usually very brief as a rule, and only lasts until our brain gets into gear, and we work out how to handle this surprising situation.  A surprise can be quite mild, being something, we thought would occur, it can be pleasantly surprising, something that takes us off our guard, an action we were not expecting. Or it can be extremely surprising, something that comes out of the blue. Like winning a huge amount on the lottery or suddenly hearing of an unexpected personal, emotional or news event. However, not all surprises are good and we can be startled by the suddenness of it or overwhelmed with the prospect of how to cope. Our ‘surprise’ can be such a shock that we instinctively want to verbally lash-out or it may induce the flight or fight response so much so, that we panic. Negative surprises are very seldom referred to as such and are usually considered to be a shock, being startled, or totally overwhelmed… The opposite to being surprised is to be quite calm and nonchalant, easy, and unworried, a state that I hope you are in most of the time.