Expect It
Embracing the pain of the bad, while living in the good.
Sometimes we can get hurt and feel pain or anger when certain things don’t go our way, or even go in an ideal pathway.
We feel frustrated when we are stuck in traffic because we hate to be delayed, we feel agitated by a poor network service as it holds up our workflow or time online, we are shaken by a low response rate from our colleagues at work even when the email responses are important and should be treated with urgency, and perhaps we might even be confused and disappointed by a person’s inability to see the wrong they do.
All of this is our natural way of pointing out that what is going on is perceived as a threat to the flow of order that we might have created to run our lives. Thus, we get on the edge when things start to taint the narrative we are trying to put our lives in. When things don't work out in our favour.
Which is completely normal.
However, we may forget that the universe is not designed to fit everybody’s needs at once. While the rain helps one farmer grow their plants, it doesn’t do justice to another human who gets electrical power from solar energy.
But is it the rain’s fault?
We need to take a look at life a little bit more objectively to know that we do not have control over what everyone does to us or if things will always be a little considerate to fit our requirements, we can only control what we do and say.
Embrace the pain
Of course, expecting the other side of things is a tough thing to do given our very human nature and the unpleasantness of negative situations.
It’s important to keep in mind that life is unpredictable and can throw unexpected challenges our way at any given moment, whether we are ready or not.
Who wants to be slapped in the face by a lemon on a sunny, hot afternoon? Not me!
For instance, we may encounter hurtful comments from someone online, become a victim of fraud, or experience infidelity from our partner.
Even our everyday routines can be disrupted by unexpected events, such as getting chased by a dog, becoming suddenly ill, or experiencing a flat tyre on a special occasion. Recognizing that random and unexpected events can happen at any time can help us prepare mentally and emotionally for how to handle these situations.
When faced with such challenges, we may ask ourselves whether we possess the strength and resilience to overcome them. By accepting the possibility of adversity, we can better equip ourselves to face life’s uncertainties with confidence and determination.
We frequently and kindly remind ourselves that we should be open towards expecting people to act rather differently from our ideals.
We should not, however, be obliged to accept the wrong or bad but to open our minds to the potentiality of it happening.
This doesn’t mean we should be paranoid, second guess and think about random faults, or even put ourselves in a position where we judge others by assuming the worst about them, but that we open up the idea that it may not go our way.
We may experience traffic, we may forget 9ur keys, we may get troll comments online, and we may be rejected for a job.
Or we may not. We never know.
Hold up, this isn’t you thinking about the worst possible outcome, or overthinking situations. Give yourself a break, haha!
Expecting that not everything goes our way helps us find out how best to handle certain situations, making us open our minds to accepting we have no control over the outcomes of things.
Things happen under certain circumstances, and we humans are inherently flawed and that can affect others.
Maybe we can keep a fire extinguisher, emergency kits and a spare tyre just in case, maybe we can choose not to read comments, or maybe we can specify the time we want a response via email.
Maybe it helps us better manage our emotions when these things happen, or maybe, just maybe it shows our deepest fears and things we may struggle to handle that we can work on as time progresses.
Being a little sane, in an insane, unpredictable world.
