Surprises remind us always that situations, people, perceptions and we ourselves could change instantly. They are the catalytic enzyme in our drab tendency towards inertia. Although we often feel annoyed by our own routines we don't want to leave them because the 'usual' provides us with a sense of stability and security. As illusionary as that may be, we perform the same actions and trudge the crowded path all to well travelled. At least we are not alone, so we reckon. But exactly this familiarity then shields us from any surprising incident.

'Keep an open mind!' is what well-wishing friends recommend. That is hardly a common habit. Is it for those friends? While there are always plenty of opportunities for occurrences to happen on any given day, it is also easy to miss them because of our stubborn efforts to keep the regularity of an alleged  Status Quo. If we want to invite surprises into our life, we need to agree to some dose of risk. There is the challenge.

Here are some surprise inducing suggestions:

1. Start experimenting. Experimentation promises surprising outcomes.
2. Look for the unknown. Imagine visiting a city with lots of tourist attractions: don't go there, instead choose some as yet unknown neighbourhood - check for basic security and off you go.
3. Question a few of your dearest beliefs. Questions are mental provocations. Maybe questioning is the purest form of thinking. 'Question everything', said the Buddha.
4. Have interesting intentions and be surprised by their manifestation. Intentions are imaginative outcomes at work. The intricate ways in which a desired outcome manifests are often miraculous.
5. Change perspective deliberately. Just for the sake of it: whatever you are focussing on right now, could you do it differently? Could you see it differently?
6. Open up to social surprises. Begin a conversation with somebody you don't know. Can you learn something new?
7. Get lost. Even in your home city you very likely don't know every place. Take a busride you never took.
8. Challenge yourself. Do something you never did, something you always wanted to do.
9. Consciously listen to or read something else than you routinely do. Favorite radiostation? Newspaper? Switch to another one.
10. Express yourself in unusual ways.Take the stage - even if it is at home - and sing your song, hold your speech, dance your groove.
11. Associate, imagine alternatives. Let your imagination be triggered by something interesting and let your mind run wild with associations.
12. Learn something new. Always a good source for surprises: learn something new, a language, an instrument, a place. Get involved in all things unknown.
13. Find the funny in situations. Remember a funny situation. Another one. Now: could your current situation carry some funny aspects? Could you imagine something funny to happen?