There is something about expectations that I find unsettling. I am very aware that expectations can often be the occasion of disappointment, especially if the expected doesn’t measure up to what was in my mind.
Not meeting expectations can take the joy out of an otherwise pleasant experience. Relatively neutral experiences can turn sour. Not realizing expectations between individuals can foster irritation and arguments.
I also have this notion that anticipating joyful experience can be a very positive force in my life. I want things to turn out pleasantly. I might even want them to be exciting. Perhaps, for me, the key is how much I am grasping and attached to what I “want”.
The future is constantly full of surprises for me, and things seldom turn out just as I expected. The future often doesn’t measure up to what I expected or perhaps even wanted. The more I am attached to how I want the future to be, the more likely I am going to be disappointed if my experience doesn’t match my expectations.
I don’t want to give up having expectations. At least not yet. I think I do intend to be much more accepting what happens, even if the present doesn’t turn out the way I expected. Resisting how things turn out is a great source of discomfort and is very unsettling. Being attached to my expectations can be a serious distraction and disturbance, a resistance to what I am experiencing.
I still want to keep expectations. I am trying not to be too cozy with them.