When the Chariot of Life Shatters Our Expectations
Someone else has the reigns. All we can do is follow the directions.
We all have expectations.
A place we want to visit, a job we desperately wish to get in. A hope that now our relationships will move on to the next level. But underneath it all, we also have a thousand emotions associated with it.
Sometimes I imagine that someone is holding the reigns of our lives. We are the horses to that invisible being’s chariot. We plan a direction, but this person pulls the controls steering us to a path that we didn’t expect or have never been. We feel angry and confused and wonder why this person is leading us on this path.
You slow down. You then tread each step carefully. This reign master doesn’t even force you to go too fast. The master is happily observing you navigate this road.
The same is the story with our expectations. We think this expectation or plan will be met, and we happily race through it all as we are at ease. Until we receive the rejection, flights get cancelled or worse, that relationship ends.
It’s like a pack of cards tumbling down, and our very own chariot master brought it down.
The Master Loves to Ruin All Our Plans
So one thing is sure. Nothing ever goes according to plan. Not for me anyway. With recent developments in my life, I wonder why is there always a sudden shatter of our dreams, leaving us confused and devastated.
You see, we are told to go with the flow. But there is no flow. Life always throws at us unforeseen changes leaving us lost and worried. It feels like walking a lonely road when it’s pitch dark, and there isn’t a firefly in sight.
So to anxiety or fight or flight is the first response. But life’s events don’t just appear and then vanish. They jolt us awake, turning all our plans upside down, and it takes days for things to settle. Like an aftershock of an earthquake, we need to be still surviving the aftershocks.
The Shadow of Expectations
Expectations or something that we hope will turn out the way we want is like our own shadow. It follows us everywhere, but there is no substance. It’s just there but offering no tangible value. Yet we must live with these shadows just as we live with our expectations.
When we look back through all the curveballs we have survived, we have a feeling of hope that if we could survive the wave back then, then we would survive it now as well.
But here is the thing when the chariot master steers us to another path, it also adds in a burden of new responsibility. You see, any change that we must go through throws at us a new set of responsibilities. It’s these responsibilities that we fear, along with unknown outcomes. We then begin to question our ability to handle this new task, which drives us insane.
When this happens, the only option we have is to take a deep breath. Because one thing is sure — we cannot say no, and we must survive this sea of change. No matter how hard we want to run away from this, we can’t. So the only thing we can do is be still and take the change little by little depending on the energy we have to deal with it.
Yes, the inevitable other thing is we don’t know what lies ahead. The chariot master must have a reason to put us through this path. But instead of focusing on finding the conclusions, let us try and change our perspective to the silver lining. Let us try and see what we are not seeing, but life is trying to show us. What is it that we must go through now that is going to help us grow?
It is only when we change our thoughts that we will find the courage to deal with this shadow. And sooner than we realise, we will befriend this shadow as we now realise that to expect is futile. All we can do is plan, then wait for the master (life) to decide if this is what is meant to be and then let go and trust the direction the master will steer us towards.
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