On Having and Giving Up Expectations
I try to give up having expectations for those around me and having expectations for experiences as often as I can, because I believe the mantra that when we approach life with no expectations, it’s very hard to be disappointed.
I love the idea of “beginner’s mind”, where we choose to remind ourselves of how little we really know about what’s going on around us and in that moment of releasing ourselves from the firm grip of expectations, we become more fluidly rolled up in the waves of reality.
But disciplining the mind to remain expectation free is a challenge which most humans would dare not accept. The humility which we must face and to which we must grow accustomed is an unwelcome guest to those who live their lives grounded in the material and the cult of self-interest.
I can’t say I’m fully ready for a life sans expectations. Our minds by default build nests of expectations, which we can and do often forget we’re resting in. Being one who believes in the power of science and logic to explain parts of this world which are within that realm, I’m led to believe that there’s something about expectation which helps us to survive, which helps us to whittle away the the extraneous layers so we can find our core. And there, after learning about who we are through our struggle with our own and other’s expectations we feed that inner light of wisdom and insight and help ourselves and others to glow.
