EXPECTATION

The word above is the biggest evil in the world of self-development. My experience with some of the programs and life pointed to letting go of any expectations if I wanted happiness & fulfillment. Another key to happiness I learnt is to practice gratitude. So far so good, hence I have been doing this and much more self-development work consciously every single day for a year and a half now; as a result I have grown in leaps and bounds as a person but lo & behold the whole game of ‘not expecting’ is as elusive as attaining nirvana for me.

So, now I am curious to dissect and get to the bottom of why exactly is it so hard for us humans to not expect. Well, to begin with I think nature has it that when you plant a seed a tree grows out of it. And how exactly will it grow if you don’t expect it to grow; after all you nurture the seed in the hope of it becoming a tree. Expectation is in our atom, in the entire existence of the universe and if it wouldn’t be we wouldn’t be. Does that make any sense at all?

Co-existence and hope is what we humans thrive on. Whether you pin your hope on another human being or a job or that property you invested in; let’s be real and accept that unless you expect any return you wouldn’t invest your money, hard work or your emotions. The return could even be selfless satisfaction or fulfillment of your soul when emotions are invested. So, if you are reciprocated with pain for all the love and understanding you gave somebody you are bound to get hurt and I don’t think anybody should tell you that your expectation to be receiving love and appreciation is wrong. Similarly if you don’t get that job for which you worked so hard, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have expected to get it in the first place because if you took that approach, would you even do your best at the interview?

If we begin taking the approach of not expecting anything out of this life (read every moment every day), would it even be worth living? Would you wake up every day with the same zest and take your child to school if you don’t expect him or her to become somebody worthy in life? You play a game and give your best because you expect to win. If you remove expectation from your life, you are basically deleting the zeal and passion to live life to the fullest.

So, what happens when your expectation is let down? That is where ‘Acceptance’ comes in. Whatever the outcome of your life situation; accept it with grace and move on. They say you can lose the battle but not the lesson. Acceptance is painful because you sowed a seed and nurtured it with the expectation to grow a plant but along the way it died. But says who that there would be no pain in this journey of life. After all life is all about different & unexpected experiences. Don’t give up Expectation; Introduce Acceptance in your system of beliefs. Accept the reality, rise up and take forward action. There is no constant state of affairs in life, the only constant is that you are alive and therefore the show must go on!

Signing off with Lots of Love,

Rashhmi Yadav