Dear Reader,
Some people go through their lives’ like a series of motions, robotically completing the same actions every day. They stick to societal norms, do what is expected of them, and never take risks. It’s understandable that some people feel safe staying in their comfort zones, but frankly it makes them boring. I’m not saying that you have to go jump off a cliff or swim with sharks to be considered interesting, but if you get up at the same time everyday, go to the same places, talk to the same people, and then go to bed at the same time, are you really enjoying life? A great, easy way to add some spice into your life is acting spontaneously. Spontaneous actions led you to new adventures, new people, and often give you a great story to tell. They also eliminate the stress of planning and the disappointment of unfilled expectations. Acting spontaneously can even improve your day-to-day life because dealing with unexpected situations regularly can help you to stay calm in the stressful situations people encounter everyday.
During a seemingly regular Sunday in September, I decided to spend time with one of my close friends. Typically we rotate through doing the same three things together: going to one of our houses, getting food, and going shopping. On that particular day we chose option number two and went to grab some food together. We caught up while we ate, but we overestimated the time it would take us to eat. When we had finished, there was still a couple of hours left until she until she had to go home. That left us sitting in a cold, corner booth with no idea what we were going to do next. The ordinary choice would have been to go back home, but I was avoiding homework, so I wanted to waste as much time as possible. I suggested that we should go to the Pet Smart because it was only across the street. She agreed to go, and we drove to the store. That was the first spontaneous action of the day. Although it wasn’t anything crazy, this random choice is what put everything into place for the events that would happen later in the day.
My friend and I walked into the store and were blasted by the cool air conditioning. We walked through the aisles looking at everything from lizards to hamsters, until we made our way to the fish section. We were standing in front of some goldfish aquariums when my friend noticed how cheap they were, fourteen cents to be exact. She then began to joke about how that was in her price range; I stopped her and suggested that she actually buy a fish. Her facial expression changed when she realized I was serious, and she began to process the idea. After thinking about it for a minute, she decided to buy some fish. We tracked down a sales rep, picked out two fish, and then checked out at the register. This was spontaneous action number two. As we got into her car the realization hit us that we now had two fish and had no idea what to do with them.
After sitting there for a while, we decided it would be best if we gave the fish to someone. We went through all of our friends until we found the perfect person to gift our fish to. We determined that one of her friends was the best candidate because his reaction was sure to be interesting. She grabbed her phone to text him and got the address of where he was. At the time he was at friend’s house, and neither my friend nor I knew his friend. We decided to go the kid’s house anyways because what was the worst that could happen? This was the third spontaneous action of the day. Typically it isn’t advised that you show up to stranger’s homes unannounced, but we didn’t think his friend would care.
We pulled up to the house and saw her friend’s car parked, so we knew we were in the right place. As we were walked up to the house, we texted the boys to let us in. We then sat down on the front porch steps to wait. It was extremely hot outside, and we quickly became uncomfortable and impatient. After five minutes they still hadn’t come to get us, so we tried the front door, which was locked. I could hear them moving around inside, so we figured they were just trying to be funny by keeping us locked out. I remembered the garage door being open when we walked up to the house, so I suggested that we try getting into the house that way. We walked through the garage and tried the door. This one was open, so I just walked into the house while my friend hesitantly followed behind me. This was our final spontaneous action. The door led us straight into a laundry room, which was pitch black; we then found another door that led into the kitchen.
My friend and I knew the boys were in the basement, so we walked through the kitchen into a hallway, and then started opening doors in an attempt to find the basement. These were all dead ends. My friend then peaked her head around a corner and quickly turned around with a panicked look on her face. She leaned over and whispered that she had just seen a woman. This was strange because the boys were supposed to be home alone. I looked around another corner and made eye contact with a man. Our first reaction was to run into the next room, but the man was already in there. I quickly explained to him that we were just trying to drop something off to one of his son’s friends and that we were trying to find the basement. The man looked us in the eye and told us that there was no basement in his house. I realized that we meant to go to the house next door and had just broken into this man’s home. We apologized profusely and ran out the way we came as quickly as humanly possible. As we were running across the lawn to the correct house, I heard the garage door of the other home closing behind us.
Anything can happen when you act spontaneously. Just one unplanned, random action can make your whole day more interesting by setting into course a larger chain of events. When you are free of the structure of a routine, you are free of the constraints that it enforces upon you. Doing something spontaneously allows you to act and then think about the effects and consequences later. It allows you to act more freely, which gives you a less stressful and happier life. Granted not all spontaneous things lead to good effects, but they do give you new experiences, which is the important part.
Sincerely,
Mary N. Renfroe