Expectations

EXPECTATION
Expectation is one's biggest foe in life.
Expectation breeds disappointment and disappointment gives way to gloom.
Is it?????
I had a chapter in my English text “A Disappointed Man” by Robert Lynd .It dealt with this same theme of ‘expectation breeds disappointment’. The solution according to him was that we must not expect anything. We must anticipate worse to be happy with the result.
But I cannot agree. How can I? If at this age I don’t expect anything from life, when will I? My life is built up on expectations; expectations from others and myself. Mostly, I succeed in coming up to my expectation; at least I try. But several times I have been unable to come up to the expectations other’s set for me. Either they are too high for my caliber or I’m quite lazy. :-)
Expectations are my way of looking ahead lovingly at life. I expect wonderful things to happen to me and to people who are all part of my life. I expect good things to happen in future, so I work pleasantly in the present waiting for the joy. Life may not always be as good as I expected, but it has never been unlivable. I feel that is fair enough. I also tend not to expect too much from people. Simple things like love, respect, kindness, care, smile, trust are all I expect from others; because these are real ingredients that make life as happy as can be.
Yet there are times when people fall miserably below my expectation. My first reaction is always of disappointment. It’s because I usually put extra effort from my side to help people to come up to my expectation (because basically I am a human, with uncountable vices and prejudices).such disappointments always lodge in my heart for long durations in guise of sadness. Sadness is, by nature, very slow to recover.
It’s said a child burnt with hot milk fears even chilled curd. Anyway that child is not at all like me. I’d always give even hot milk a second or third chance, expecting it not to be as hot as before.
Because life is worth living only if one has an expectation from oneself or from the world…
Hail expectations!!!!!!!