Expectations

I read an interesting article about expectations. It got me thinking.
Jordan Peterson is a young man. One could make the point that most of his life is in the expectation column. Me? Not so much. At this point in life I've seen a lot of hopes dashed, plans that failed, schemes that went awry. You would think my advice to the young would be along the lines of an old saying that Peterson quotes, "Expectations are the enemy of contentment," or as I have put it, at least partly in jest, "Lower your expectations and you won't be disappointed as often." The fact is, I don't believe that or recommend it. I see too many young people with no dreams, stunted hope, and terribly limited plans. And, the world is full of cynical oldsters who have decided that they have been burned too often by the white-hot heat of expectation. "Never again," is their motto.

What we need is a way to manage expectations. Clearly, it is foolish to expect the impossible.

Dreaming about spreading my arms and flying like a bird is not productive. If I spend my time dreaming about soaring with the eagles, a reasonable expectation is that I'll end up being food for the buzzards. On the other hand, living life with a view no further than the next step I take on my boring, treadmill existence is a hollow caricature of the life God intends for us to live. Like so many things in life, we need balance concerning our expectations. Let's think about it for the next couple of days.

You can expect more.

It's STTA.