Where does expectation come from?

I think it begins where memory meets imagination. We take what we’ve lived, add what we hope, and cast it forward. The word itself comes from the Latin exspectare, “to look out for.” Expectation is the act of looking out toward the future with our eyes open. It includes wonder, along with hope, belief, and curiosity.

We launch a project or a service and expect it to succeed. We wonder what the year ahead will bring, and what climate change, the cost of living, and health care will mean for the people we love and us.

We carry others’ expectations: teachers, colleagues, family, friends. And we carry our own, often the most demanding and personal.

Yes, expectations can let us down. The job doesn’t come through. The blind date falls flat. It stings, and it’s supposed to, because it shows how much we cared. A disappointed expectation is proof that we were willing to hope. And we can continue to.

Without expectations, we would drift. With them, we lean forward. They pull us out of bed, into our work, toward the people who matter. They are how we say to ourselves, something good could happen, and I’m going to show up for it.

So here’s an invitation:

1. Today, notice your expectations. Name three: one for your work, one for someone you love, one for yourself. Ask where each comes from. Ask whether it’s still serving you, or whether it’s time to release it and raise a new expectation.

2. Then look at the word freshly. Expectation isn’t a burden. It’s a sign that you’re still looking out, still curious, still alive to what comes next.

Thanks – Michael (he, him)

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This is important too – Imagination Will Take You Everywhere.

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