A Small, Nice Incidence of Non-Anticipation

Ryan

The Living Force
FOTCM Member
It’s funny the way non-anticipation works! I received a small demonstration of that today that might be helpful for others, so I’m detailing the experience below.

After arriving home from work, I was as usual fairly keen to get inside and relax for a few moments before beginning my afternoon/evening routine. Once of those items of relaxation is usually to roll and smoke a cigarette, only on this instance I remembered that I’d used up all my tobacco the previous night. As it was already past closing time for most tobacco shops, my only option (or so I thought) was to purchase factory-made cigarettes from a gas station or supermarket. Factory-made cigarettes are usually much harsher and nastier to smoke than rolling tobacco, but will do in a pinch.

For some reason, I had the feeling that I should go and purchase my tobacco via the usual shop as it was close to closing time, just to check. Despite intellectually knowing that the shop would already be shut and very much wanting to relax after work, I decided to jump back in the car and drive down there, just in case another possibility should open up. 

Sure enough, the shop was shut so, as I went to drive away with no idea of where to go other than a servo or supermarket, the thought occurred to visit a smaller, nearby independent food market just to see if they might have the particular brand of tobacco I wanted to purchase. Despite it being fairly unlikely, as generally only tobacconists have my preferred brand, the fact that it was an original thought convinced me to head in that direction. So, I drove a bit further to the small food market and then when I arrived at the car park, to my great surprise there was a small tobacconist that was tucked nearly into the corner of the market and it was still open.

It turned out that the tobacconist, as well as being open, also stocked my preferred brand of tobacco, so not only was I able to purchase some, I will be able to do so again in the future!

So, I returned home in quite an upbeat mood. Reflecting on the matter, it seems most likely, having seen that food market quite a number of times in the past and even having been in the carpark before, that my subconscious mind remembered there was a tobacconist there and prompted me emotionally of the possibility that the store was still open, even though my conscious mind could not recall it and thus my rational mind was unable to deduce an outcome that would result in a successful purchase. The heart of the matter however is, importantly, that I chose not to anticipate that my rational mind was correct. By making the extra effort, I was rewarded with a realisation of a possibility and a nice evening.

Maybe, rather than materialising Ferraris, this is really what is meant by “creating your own reality”?

I hope y’all have a similar nice evening too! 🙂
 
The heart of the matter however is, importantly, that I chose not to anticipate that my rational mind was correct. By making the extra effort, I was rewarded with a realisation of a possibility and a nice evening.

Maybe, rather than materialising Ferraris, this is really what is meant by “creating your own reality”?

Just so, I think! It's amazing to see what this attitude of "happy goes lucky" can bring to us! I loved your story, it's a source of inspiration to all of us! I could relate to it perfectly as I'm always searching for other tobbaconists!
 
I think it is the spirit of adventure that is behind this. The adventurer is always attentive to new roads, new stories, etc instead of giving up. In a sort of way he is not stressed. And see everything with a smile. Like yours!
 
Here is some mundane explanation.

Generally shop owners always look for new products customers are interested. If one customer comes and ask, they take note, 2 or 3 customers ask, they make it available. It is normal business cycle. that's how the shop near my office got American spirit.

With COVID restrictions, lot of shops are closed, the usual customer routes are disrupted. Probably, there are other customers like you going to the closed shop and tried to this new shop and he stocked up. After all, it is Tobacco :lol:. How does it feels when you want to have smoke, but there is no lighter? :evil: ;-)

These are little joys of life.💖 I guess, Unpredictability is the joy of shopping. It is lot better than one wants it, no money to even shop for it and much worse, others enjoy and one has to contend to watch it.
 
I think small joyful results like this also show that apart from a sense of "curiosity" (adventure) and non-anticipation, one has to do some work and put some energy into bringing good things into one's life. You could have decided to stay home and not bother. Instead, you went the extra mile, literally and figuratively. :-)
 
Thank you for sharing Ryan, it's a nice experience, an adventure, one of those times when the DCM manifests it's presence in one's life in unexpected ways if one is willing to act, to make a choice, to send a signal. It's a beautiful experience indeed!
 
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