Expectations are a killer.
I’m not the first to theorize this, but I do want to talk about it briefly today.
It’s a concept most of us take for granted, yet in my experience, is often a major driver of misery and suffering.
To expect something is to believe it will or should be so.
Therefore, an expectation exists as a projection of our imagination.
Our wants, needs, and desires.
And as figments of our mind, they serve to reassure us how things will, or should, turn out.
Like my article about Hollywood’s obsession with the Deus ex machina, we’re talking about a narrative that we’re sold, absorb, and then base our behavior accordingly.
(Though far too often, exceptions hit us on a subconscious level.)
For example, after 18 years of living in Taos, I came to expect a certain amount of good weather.
We’re talking about day after day of deep blue skies, and lots of gorgeous sun.
As did most of the long-time residents here.
So this 5-month-winter, with dismal light, and day after day of flat, gray skies, has not just cut back the weather people use for “happiness,” but it’s also hit people in the Climate Change wound.
Proving such things are SO FAR out of a person’s control is distressing.
Pivoting to politics, we could talk about the anger people feel, because they expected to have good jobs, a social safety net, or a government that would protect them from things like artificial intelligence, monopolistic corporations, and deadly fentanyl.
Hard times lead people to get extra-upset, not just because life is tough, but because they’re super-disappointed things didn’t work out like they were supposed to.
Like we expected they would.
Certainly, Trumpers are always furious that things are not the way “they used to be.”
Don’t forget: the first word of MAGA is make.
To make is to compel. To dominate.
America expects to dominate the world, because we did for the past (not quite) 100 years.
China expects to dominate the world, because they’re a mega-populous, ancient, successful nation, with the world’s biggest economy.
Russia expects to dominate the world, because they’re an aggressive, powerful Empire, and the biggest country on Earth.
Great power battles always create collateral damage.
Didn’t mean to drift into Geopolitics.
Maybe I’ll just land the plane here.
If you’re stressed about having your expectations met, in 2023, it might be time to question the expectations.
If we change what we think should happen, or change our plans so something different might happen, it tends to lead to better outcomes.
Rather than doing the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result.
Sunshine and Olly 
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