What to expect when you are not expecting

A few weeks ago, I found myself watching a lifestyle segment on a news broadcast. I was intrigued by the commentator’s thoughts on worrying and stress. She began to tell a story about how her husband does not expect anything out of life. This fascinated and perplexed me at the same time. I was fascinated because I was wondering what type of life a person would live if they did not expect anything out of it. Would it be boring and sad or would it be filled with excitement and adventure. I was perplexed because I could not understand how one gets through life without expecting anything. However, I kept thinking that a life without expectation may be exactly what I need.

I consider myself to be a realist. I realize that there is evil in the world and that life can be very curial so I expect the worst, and hope for the best. Many of my close friends consider me to be a pessimist; but again I consider myself to be a realist, and seeing the world for what it is. Many people often expect the best and plan for the world; one may call these individuals optimist. What if no one was a pessimist or an optimist and we just take life without expecting the good or the bad. Then I thought what if I weren’t a realist. If I went through life simply not expecting anything and just taking what I get. Would I be less stressed? Would life be more enjoyable? Would I live longer? I have been struggling with these questions    over the last two weeks. In fact, I have been thinking about writing this blog post since I saw the segment; and, I think I finally have developed an answer.

Personally, I think that a life without expectations can be beneficial for short term goals, but not long term ambitions. I know for me, short term goals stress me out completely. I stress over making sure that these goals are reached and when they are not I feel horrible. In the grand scheme of things these short term goals may defer me from my long term ambitions but they do not completely derail me from achieving them. They are not that important for my life as a whole. With these goals, I will not expect anything. If I achieve them those will be great, however, if I don’t achieve them that will be ok. I will not feel like a failure and that it is the end of the world. For long term ambitious I feel that I should expect to live life abundantly. This means that everything that I have planned will come to pass in its own time and I will never stop working towards my goals. However, I do not believe in sweating profusely over the small stuff. I will go one step at a time and keep it moving.

Let God’s light shine within you and through you!