A Musing



A lone Native American Indian looking over the river and canyons of Nevada. What is he thinking?  What expectations did he have?  Railroad tracks leading somewhere, wonder if he wishes he could be riding the rails. Maybe he prefers a canoe, or maybe he enjoyed the view and went on to go fishing or hunting and enjoyed his day.   Some time ago I wrote a musing, one of the many I wrote, but this one I am blogging about as some folks need a reminder that we are sometimes our own worst enemy.     Some folks bring pain and anguish to themselves all because of expectations.

Expectations
JMS- 2006
The word 'expectation' according to the American Heritage Dictionary reads:  n. a. The act or state of expecting.  b.  Eager anticipation: eyes shining with expectation.  2.  The state of being expected.  3. A. Expectations.  Prospects. Esp of inheritance.  B.  Something expected.  4.  The expected value of a random variable, esp. the mean. 5. Expectancy (sense).

To me, the word 'expectation' is the harbinger of woe.  A suspenseful animation of things or events as we think they should be and when they do not come up to our 'expectations' we tend to feel used, abused, sad, lonely, miserable and depressed.
In order to survive our world we must see the reality as life is, and not as we wish it to be, or even expect it to be.  It is what it is, and we can only live it as we arise in the morning with the eastern sun and go to bed with the western wane as darkness approaches and we go off to sleep to rejuvenate our bodies and souls.
What I think I want may not be what I need.  Until we differentiate between the two, we live in a world of expectation and the circle goes around and around.
No two persons see the same object in the same light.   Each one sees but with a mind set that makes what they see different as they gaze at the texture, color and substance of the piece they are looking at.
The same with taste, each one has taste buds that differ and what is delicious to one maybe absolutely tasteless to another.
Our hearing follows the pattern and one may listen but each of us hears the words with a different connotation, and  thus tall tales are born.
We feel, some with hands that know the softness and handle delicately, while others are rough and feel hardness.
Dealing with each other could be very simple if we had no expectations and look for the inner beauty that shines in everyone and find the core of the person and do away with envy, greed, avarice, jealousy and hatred.



So today, think about your expectations.    Are you living your seconds in anticipation of the good things that will come by your own efforts to survive, or are you living in expectation that someone will 'provide' . . . the old adage "you get out of life, what you put into it, no more, no less" should squelsh expectations, and only you can make yourself 'happy'.   
We are starting a brand new year, one filled with challenges, so look over your list of resolutions and find out which ones are expectations and which ones are worth working on.     Make this year . . . your year . . . positive attitude, hard work and a smile from your eyes along with a walk in hug or two.   Hugs to all.