Expectations
Yogis say all the time “let go of expectations.” I understand that in meditation but today I learned that lesson off the mat. Nothing came together in the way I had envisioned it would. There were issues with things. Things were unexpectedly complicated. I couldn’t cross anything off my to-do list. And worst of all, a business meeting I had worked so hard to create and had such high hopes for did not turn out the way I wanted. At first I was overcome with disappointment and anger. I could not shake the feelings of upset. You know that voice in your head that tells you things aren’t fair and creates lots of story around problems and how things aren’t possible now?
Thanks to my meditation practice, I quickly realized I had 2 choices. I could either wallow in my upset, feel horrible and probably make things worse by acting destructively or I could simply let it go. That’s right. I could just let the feelings and all the story I was creating in my head about it go. I could surrender to what was really going on, let go of how I wanted things to go and stay open for a different and perhaps even better outcome. Maybe there was room here to create something I hadn’t thought of in advance. Maybe the Universe would surprise me with something wonderful and turn the situation into a magical opportunity. ThIs created a space of possibility again. Hope was restored!
Expectations can be a trap!
I think Brian Andreas said it wisely when he painted:
“Deciding everything is falling into place perfectly as long as you don’t get too picky about what you mean by place or perfectly.”
“Deciding everything is falling into place perfectly as long as you don’t get too picky about what you mean by place or perfectly.”