Expectations are another powerful force down here in the sandpit.
What do you expect today?
How do you expect your day will go?
Do you expect the sun to shine or the rain to fall?
How will the world react to you today?
You have much more control over this than might imagine.
And the single most important factor in forming your expectations is your attitude!
Attitudes control expectations which provide the fertile soil for your intents and beliefs to grow. Your attitude is the garden in which the flowers of your expectations grow.
"Plant seeds of expectation in your mind; cultivate thoughts that anticipate achievement. Believe in yourself as being capable of overcoming all obstacles and weaknesses." - Norman Vincent Peale
Each of us perceives the world around us through the filter of these unique and personal set of expectations and beliefs. So as with our beliefs our goal should be to adopt an attitude that expects the best.
A attitude that serves not hinders you. A positive attitude will lead you to expect the best in life. Each day as you go about your business you carry with you a set of beliefs and expectations as to how things will go.
An attitude!
How people will react to you. How you will respond. It's all there deep in your psyche waiting to be activated- your automatic response programs are set, your reactions to any event already predetermined- an endless loop of ingrained, unconscious responses to the events and circumstances in your life.
Every day as you go about your life you will carry with you an attitude to the world and that attitude will carry with it a set of expectations.
When you wake up in the morning you expect the sun to shine, the electricity to work. The toilet to flush, the post to arrive, the cat to be hungry, the water to be cold, the light to come on, the traffic to be bad, the boss to be angry, your wife to be moody, your kids to be ungrateful, your headache to last all day, that lump to turn malignant, your hair to get thinner, your waist to spread further, the immigrant shop-keeper to be slow, the taxi driver to take the long route, your kids to be noisy, your friends to be needy, the city to be dangerous, people to be bad, crazy, unkind, thoughtless.
Throughout the day you paint lay the ground-work for you evening.
You expect to arrive home late and tired, perhaps to an ungrateful partner, or a days collection of problems and issues and so it is. You expect you meal to be unsatisfying and your wine to taste good and so it is.
You expect the moon to come out, the owls to hoot, and the world to grow dark and peaceful and so it is.
"You cannot escape your own attitudes, for they will form the nature of what you see." - The Seth Material, Jane Roberts
Be very careful about the attitude you adopt, spend as much time on your attitude as you do on your physical appearance.
Great expectations
So what is an expectation?
Expectation could be loosely described as a strong, unshakeable belief!- but unlike beliefs which we can adopt with little or no personal experience- expectations require proof?
Expecations are powerful beliefs. beliefs with a difference- beliefs that are backed up with direct personal experience not just faith alone or the words of others-And as Doctor Tom Campbell explains:
"The ideal is to turn intellectual beliefs into knowledge based on direct experience."
For what more evidence or proof does one need than their own experiential experiences?
Expect the Unexpected
Have no expectations on the outcome of your desires is a common 'teaching' in spiritual circles. We are urged to go with the flow, take life as it comes... our desires and longings will only ever lead us to pain and disappointment say the sages.
I take a more pragmatic view, none of us are without expectations and while we are here, in this physical reality at least, then we can expect to have always have expectations.
Managing these expectations is the goal.
"The most important decision we make is whether we believe we live in a friendly or hostile universe. "- Albert Einstein
But we do have to be very careful with the expectations we all carry with us, both conscious and unconscious expectations can place limits on the potential outcomes you desire. Closing off unexpected avenues and opportunities that may be on our way. By expecting something we tend to put constraints on the system.best to leave it as general as possible..
Now if the expectation held is a positive one say optimism- 'it always works out ok in the end'. I'm a lucky guy then great! but unfortunately a lot of our expectations are deeply un-beneficial and buried deep within our psyches.
Until you learn to recognise and manage your expectations I find it best to keep them as general as possible. For example; "I want to be at peace with myself and the world around me" as oppose to the more specific; "I want a red Ferrari sports car. Believe that you live in a safe and friendly universe and expect to be loved, guided, and protected at all times. Expect that things are working out exactly as they need to. At exactly the right time in exactly the right way.
Train your mind to expect the best. Have faith in your own power, your divinity, and trust that The Universe has your back.
Of course to have no expectations on the outcome of the desires and dreams is very easy to say. It is our natural human state to wonder, to plan and scheme, to dream. But for success in this case relies on more than just hard work and focus. The last ingredient is trust, we have to expect that the universe will provide the most elegant and suitable solution to our petitions and desires.
"To have faith is to trust yourself to the water. When you swim you don't grab hold of the water, because if you do you will sink and drown. Instead you relax, and float." - Alan Watts
Once we accept that we are not capable of conceiving how or when something will happen and we surrender to the Divine's wisdom the rest will occur naturally, gracefully, and work out to everyone's satisfaction. By doing this we free ourselves from constant longing, and open ourselves to outcomes and resolutions we could never even imagine.
I expect the Universe to provide me with all that I need to achieve my desires.
The people, places, events, and circumstances needed
at exactly the right time in exactly the right way.
