Mediocre Expectations
I'm not sure what Charles Dickens had in mind when he titled the great work about young Pip, the kid with his whole life ahead of him, but "Great Expectations" doesn't seem to fit. Maybe should have been entitled "Huge Disappointments". I mean, have you read that book?? What the heck was Chuck thinkin?? That kid had more bad luck than Juan Pablo Montoya trying to make it in Nascar. It was actually pretty ugly!
Perhaps Dickens was making assumptions about the way a 6 year old boy looks at the world. Everything in life is out in front of you, there isn't much behind you. Experience is extremely limited, so the way we look at and tackle life is largely theoretical. We tended to look at things very idealistically, and sometimes downright unrealistically. Just remember the way we built things up in our mind before they actually happened. This is going to be the best (or worst) _________ ever!
Youthful idealism can be your best friend or worst enemy. Is there anything wrong with optimism? No, I think I continue to be one of the most optimistic people I know. I'm positive that crap is gonna happen. Is there anything wrong with dreaming? No! Dreams brought us Disneyworld, the world's tallest buildings, and caramel macchiato with two shots of espresso at Starbucks. Dreams are good! Goals are great, too...I've spent hours and hours in my life setting goals and working toward their completion. Experience should help keep us from some disappointments as we live life on this mudball, even when we think, dream, and set goals that are much larger than ourselves. It's called being grounded in reality. Some people say 'be realistic', which is an excuse to not take risks. or to think outside the box. I'm just talking about
Laws of the universe still exist. Under certain circumstances, gravity can be interrupted, but it's still most likely going to come into play if you jump off of a second floor balcony. You simply cannot expect that it will be any different. Don't try this at home...it's not a theory, it's been thoroughly tested and proven a couple of times to date. And expecting certain things about people? That's a short list! People are way too unpredictable...though some people are consistent enough sometimes that you can anticipate their stupidity. I see them every morning piddling around in the fast lane on the freeway.
This is fresh on my mind, because a friend of mine had certain great expectations that were very unrealistic, not grounded in reality, and in spite of every piece of evidence to the contrary (including some laws of the universe), their expectations weren't met, and the largest s***storm I've seen in years ensued. The larger and more unrealistic the expectation, the larger the disappointment, and the more intense the um....poopstorm. It could have all been avoided if those expectations had been grounded somewhere in the remote vicinity of reality. Reality meaning 'real' reality, not the stuff that exists only in our freakin' nutty minds!
Maybe I'm a little cynical. I've had my share of disappointments in my life. I've had dreams fail, goals fail, relationships fail, and even my optimism has been deflated a time or two. It hasn't caused me to stop dreaming, setting goals, or being positive about life. I think what it HAS done is help experience be bonded to those things and learn to expect much less about most things. The reason why I've modified my approach was reiterated to me this weekend with my friends' huge disappointment and ensuing tirade. Perhaps if Charles Dickens was writing a book using me as a character (although Steven King may be more interested in a story like mine), he'd call it "Mediocre Expectations". Or maybe, "Expect the Unexpected". That seems to ring more true. I'm rarely severely disappointed anymore (especially when it comes to people). And sometimes I am truly amazed. Sometimes life throws out some very pleasant surprises! Munchkins are real?? Who knew?! ;) FG
Perhaps Dickens was making assumptions about the way a 6 year old boy looks at the world. Everything in life is out in front of you, there isn't much behind you. Experience is extremely limited, so the way we look at and tackle life is largely theoretical. We tended to look at things very idealistically, and sometimes downright unrealistically. Just remember the way we built things up in our mind before they actually happened. This is going to be the best (or worst) _________ ever!
Youthful idealism can be your best friend or worst enemy. Is there anything wrong with optimism? No, I think I continue to be one of the most optimistic people I know. I'm positive that crap is gonna happen. Is there anything wrong with dreaming? No! Dreams brought us Disneyworld, the world's tallest buildings, and caramel macchiato with two shots of espresso at Starbucks. Dreams are good! Goals are great, too...I've spent hours and hours in my life setting goals and working toward their completion. Experience should help keep us from some disappointments as we live life on this mudball, even when we think, dream, and set goals that are much larger than ourselves. It's called being grounded in reality. Some people say 'be realistic', which is an excuse to not take risks. or to think outside the box. I'm just talking about
Laws of the universe still exist. Under certain circumstances, gravity can be interrupted, but it's still most likely going to come into play if you jump off of a second floor balcony. You simply cannot expect that it will be any different. Don't try this at home...it's not a theory, it's been thoroughly tested and proven a couple of times to date. And expecting certain things about people? That's a short list! People are way too unpredictable...though some people are consistent enough sometimes that you can anticipate their stupidity. I see them every morning piddling around in the fast lane on the freeway.
This is fresh on my mind, because a friend of mine had certain great expectations that were very unrealistic, not grounded in reality, and in spite of every piece of evidence to the contrary (including some laws of the universe), their expectations weren't met, and the largest s***storm I've seen in years ensued. The larger and more unrealistic the expectation, the larger the disappointment, and the more intense the um....poopstorm. It could have all been avoided if those expectations had been grounded somewhere in the remote vicinity of reality. Reality meaning 'real' reality, not the stuff that exists only in our freakin' nutty minds!
Maybe I'm a little cynical. I've had my share of disappointments in my life. I've had dreams fail, goals fail, relationships fail, and even my optimism has been deflated a time or two. It hasn't caused me to stop dreaming, setting goals, or being positive about life. I think what it HAS done is help experience be bonded to those things and learn to expect much less about most things. The reason why I've modified my approach was reiterated to me this weekend with my friends' huge disappointment and ensuing tirade. Perhaps if Charles Dickens was writing a book using me as a character (although Steven King may be more interested in a story like mine), he'd call it "Mediocre Expectations". Or maybe, "Expect the Unexpected". That seems to ring more true. I'm rarely severely disappointed anymore (especially when it comes to people). And sometimes I am truly amazed. Sometimes life throws out some very pleasant surprises! Munchkins are real?? Who knew?! ;) FG
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