Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Expectations

Great Expectations the book by Charles Dickens is well known. The expectations that I am writing today is not related to the book, but is something that will relate to every individual. As humans every one have expectations, varying from low to high based on situation, outcome & benefit. A child has expectations that resides mostly for few days, as a teenager dreams take form as expectations that shapes our youth and to a certain extent of our middle age. Career, marriage & family implants a different level of expectations into our minds that pushes us through to our retirement. To have expectations in every stage of our life is it good or bad? is it for betterment or deterrence of individual?

Some believe rather than to expect and get disappointed when the expected does not happen, its better not to expect and when the unexpected happens be happy. I wonder if you do not know what to expect then how can the individual be happy when the unexpected happens? As a simple example, a student sits for an exam, and expects certain results based on how he/she performed in the exam. If we ask the student not to expect the outcome of the result and be happy with the outcome if its a distinction or high distinction, that will not motivate the student to prepare well for the exam. The same can be applied to a company's earnings / profits.

Few others believe, take life as it comes without any expectations and hopes. People think they are very simple minded when they say this as their principle in life. It wonders me how does humanity grow without expectations? If no expectations are there in our minds we would not have electricity, laptops, i-phones & i-pads, there wouldn't be progress in career ladder, growth in businesses, we wouldn't be driving cars, flying in air from horse driven carriages, dwellings with comfort & luxuries from thatched huts. This shows expectations are for improvement & innovation.

Humanity has travelled a long way to where we are today by expectations and dreams. The optimistic approach would be to train up the mind to expect with hopes and when it happens be happy and when it doesn't accept the disappointment and analyze why it did not happen and if possible and time permits try it again to make it happen. This could be termed as mental maturity. Therefore expectations are for the betterment of the individual, society and humanity. As end note would like to say, Expectations should not feed for stubbornness & rigidity but flexibility & innovation.

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