the joy of the unexpected

The other day I went to Crissy Field without too much hope of kiting: there was barely any wind and no other kiter was there. Yet a few minutes after I got there my friend Stefaans showed up and the wind pick up to where we thought we could barely make it work. We gave it a go and had a wonderful session. Afterwards, I felt that the pleasure of the session was augmented by the fact that it was unexpected. This reminded me of a conversation I had with the boys about the pleasure one derives from the anticipation of something, e.g., a great concert, a vacation. Does this imply that there is a somewhat fixed amount of pleasure one can derive from something and that anticipation uses up some of the pleasure - while not even knowing it is coming leaves all the pleasure available for later?

I don't think so. I think these two things: the pleasure of anticipation and the pleasure of the unexpected are unrelated. Enjoying the anticipation doesn't take away from the enjoyment of the event itself. Of course, if we know it is coming we won't get the pleasure of the surprise factor, whether we enjoyed the anticipation or not.

Take away? Enjoy the anticipation of pleasurable events and also try to create spontaneous and unplanned events that might give you the joy of the unexpected.