THE LOWER I KEEP MY EXPECTATIONS...




“Keep no expectations,” the free advice goes, “you won’t be disappointed.”
As I said, it is a free advice… You get it from everyone around you, everywhere.  I give it you, you give it to me and they all give it to you and me! All free!

Can we really live in this world keeping no expectations?

I have tried and I have failed… I don’t know about you.

What I know is this: Every act - every gesture - I do towards others, I do keep my expectations while doing it. When my expectations are met, I feel happy… and when they are not met, I feel unhappy. Yes, my disappointments come when people do not thank me enough, compliment me enough, compensate me enough, love and care for me enough… when they do not behave as I expect them to… when they keep doing things which I don’t want them to… when they say things I don’t want to hear… and when they come home when I want to be left alone… and so on…

I also know this: because I am aware that the root cause of my disappointment and unhappiness is my own expectations from people around me and life at large, I am, also, aware how far to go as far as my expectations are concerned… How to lower my expectations and, thereby, lower my disappointments and unhappiness…

But, can I do way with all my expectations?

Not in this world!

The other day, I found a lovely comment from Anil, a dear friend of mine, on my blog post (‘A MAN WRAPPED UP IN HIMSELF MAKES A VERY SMALL PARCEL’). Anil commented: “True ... when you can get everything unconditionally, why condition it.”

What if the Sun, the Moon, the Stars and the wind did their work with a dozen conditions? What if they did their job with loads of expectations from you and me?  What if God made us sign an agreement with Him before He put breath in our lungs and beats in our hearts?

God would have long gone crazy… Insane!

“I find my life is a lot easier,” said Bill Watterson, “the lower I keep my expectations.”  I fully agree with Bill. In Life, our disappointments and heartaches teach us… from whom to expect and how much… Yes, in the ‘School of Hard knocks’!

GERALD D’CUNHA

Pic.: Chetna Shetty

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