Expect the Unexpected

As children we were all asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” With light glistening from our wishful pure eyes we responded. “An Astronaut!” “A teacher!” “Oprah!” “The President!” “A Scientist!” These same ambitions carried over to Halloween. It was the one night of the year when we were those people. We had the mask, the cape, or the boots. We often pretended to be Superman, Wonder Woman, Spiderman, or Batman. We saw those people as Jerry Seinfeld would say not as fictional characters but as future career options. We wanted and expected to save the world, because the world revolved around us.

Sadly these dreams and free candy lose their savor during the teenage years. We soon indulge in judgment, envy, laziness, failure, and presumption. Like candy we find it easy to devour and give freely. However, unlike Halloween it’s passed out daily. The supplier is expectation.

We expect a future. We expect success. We expect an ideal partner. So what do we do? We learn and we work even when we fail. We date, we judge, we breakup, we love, and we marry. We are somewhat still our selfish kid self dressed up as an adult. The expectations change from a bag full of candy to a bag full of ideas.

Expectations are like celebrities. We all have our favorites. We idealize them, emulate them, and we follow them. Yet seldom if ever meet them. And when and if we do they may not be what we thought.

These dreams, hopes, aspirations, or standards affect everything. Tomorrow you will get up in the morning because you expect the sun to have brought up the day. You will drive to work because you expect to get there. You will do your job because you expect a pay check. However you also expect some things to go wrong. Your alarm may not go off. You may get in a car accident. You may even get fired.

Good or bad, expectations bring power. Without them we would never be able to reason or respond rationally. Nothing would happen. There would be no advancements in technology. No books to read or blogs to write. There would be neither school nor work. We would starve, having no food for why would we farm if we don’t expect fruit? Why would we raise livestock if we didn’t expect to use them?

Why? That is the ultimate question. Without that reason, without that hope, we would be hopeless. Life would be nothing but despair.

The wishful light from childhood is still glowing. It may have dimmed, but it can be brightened. We can put on our daily costumes as an employee, a teacher, or maybe The President and head out into the world assured that there is good ahead. Keep expecting, but expect the unexpected.