From Expectation to Acceptance
“Release expectations? What?! I thought we were supposed to expect the best! Believe for the best! Hope for the best!“
On this journey to peaceful living it is important to recognize that sometimes, many times, in life, the reason we get angry, upset, disappointed, frustrated or such is because we expect something to happen a certain way, or we expect someone to act or think a certain way and what we are hoping for or expecting is not reality. Does that make sense?
When learning to ‘Ride the Wave’ a big part of learning to navigate these negative feelings is reframing them by adjusting or releasing expectations. Have you ever said or thought any of the following….
“I thought you would know better than that.”
“I hoped you would show a little more interest.”
“I wish you were more….kind, talkative, loving, affectionate, helpful, outgoing….”
There are many more that could fit into this category, but what these statements all do is place the responsibility on someone else to change to meet our expectations so that we can be at peace. But this, my dear, is a losing battle. So if we aren’t supposed to ‘expect’ anything, how do we do this? The answer lies in a very simple statement, “I accept.”
If you reframe your mind-set to one of acceptance, rather than wishing things, people, situations, life, were different peace automatically follows. Listen to these statements and see how they feel.
“I accept that you did what you did.”
“It’s okay if you’re not interested. I can accept that.”
“I can accept that you are different than I am, and I can see finer qualities in you.”
Today take a new look at how you are thinking when you are getting upset with someone or something. Is the underlying reason because you are placing your expectations of how you think things ‘should be’ onto them? Can you release the ‘should be’s’ and transform your mind-set to “I accept’? Each time you surrender this way of thinking for a more peaceable one- replacing expectation with acceptance- you are uprooting a weedy thought pattern and sowing peace seeds into your life that will begin to sprout peace in your garden of life.
So yes, believe for the best, hope for the best, but don’t let your rigid expectations ruin your journey to peaceful living. Accept each moment as it is, knowing that life is wise, and the plan is much bigger than you can imagine. What is happening now is just one step on your journey, choose peace above all else, and the rest is just details.
