What’s My Expectation?
My expectations were reduced to zero when I was 21. Everything since then has been a bonus. — Stephen W. Hawking
Consider the expectations that you hold.
Some are conscious. You’re expecting a 10% raise or a 10% increase in company sales. For house prices to go up/down. For a crisis to end soon/late.
Some are subconscious. You expect your friends, your partner, your colleagues to behave in a certain way. For electricity, water, and internet to always be available.
When reality inevitably clashes with expectations, you experience disappointment and unhappiness.
Forming attached expectations about things that fall outside of your control makes little sense. Especially the kind that causes anguish. Better to expend your energy and efforts on things that have an effect like on your reaction and on your internal dialogue.
Whenever you experience disappointments, ask yourself, What’s My Expectation?
A small example. You’re carrying heavy grocery bags from your car to the entrance of your apartment building and your neighbor sees you. Instead of keeping the front door open for you a moment longer, he lets it shut and now you have to put all the bags on the floor and dig around for your keys. How can that jerk do that? He clearly saw that I needed help with…
