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A blessing for when you don't know how to handle good news

On being surprised by joy

Blessed are you who feels frozen by the arrival of good news. Who is so used to bracing for the glum update, who is perpetually waiting for the other shoe to fall.

You’ve spent years fine-tuning your crisis management skills. You know just how to navigate the very worst of news. You know how to make the best of things. You’re a master at finding the tiniest silver lining in the darkest cloud. You’re always coiled and ready to spring into action to mitigate disaster.

But what do you do with this unfamiliar news of joy? No storm clouds on the horizon. No sadness to wrestle. Just happy, simple, good news. Why does this feel so difficult?

May you forgive yourself for not knowing what to do. May you be kind to that self that is all too used to the darkest of news. May you be gentle with that part of yourself that doesn’t know how to react. That feels stunned. That feels uneasy instead of grateful.

May you take a moment to sit with that part of yourself and acknowledge that good news feels like a new and foreign land. And to acknowledge your grief that goodness feels so unfamiliar.

May you not rush yourself. May you give yourself space to have the reaction you truly have— disbelief, worry, numbness.

May you slowly begin to trust the presence of good news, and start to relax into this new hopeful new beginning.

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