Week 18 Challenge - Expectations

This year I decided to challenge myself to reflect on various Yoga and Buddhist aspects throughout the year. The challenges come from a variety of places including readings in Deborah Adele's Yamas and Niyamas and Thich Nhat Hanh's Heart of the Buddha's Teaching and Happiness.

This week's challenge had to do with expecting the same fulfillment and comfort from things and people. It also included observing how those expectations left me feeling.

I definitely fall prey to expecting things not to change. As an example, if I had a piece of chocolate cake and really enjoyed it, I expect to feel the same if I have it again. The reality: that just doesn't happen. I can't recapture a past experience or feeling by recreating it. But only part of me knows that.

I find I have stale expectations sometimes with food, people, possessions, activities, events. You name it, somewhere in me is an expectation that is setting me up for disappointment.

How do these misplaced expectations leave me feeling? Whatever I was craving from the situation, person, object, I still crave. It's like a black hole of need. A moving target I can't hit.

So what do I do? I work at releasing those expectations. When I let them go and just let the moment unfold as it's meant to, the pressure is gone. Regardless of the outcome, I'm not disappointed because it was about the experience, not my perception of what that experience would be. Life's a journey, might as well enjoy the ride!