Do expectations hurt??

I am in mood to write lots of philosophy,metaphysics and things like that. If its not your cup of tea, skip it. Don't blame me for not warning you.

There are two ways of looking at it. I present them both and you choose whatever you like.

First theory:

I have received an SMS sometime back, which goes like this:

"Do not expect anything from life,expectations hurt. When you don't expect, every moment, everything is a surprise and every surprise brings happiness with it."

A very profound theory. That's what even Holy Bhagavad Gita preaches to some extent. Do your duty and not worry about the results. A sense of detachment from the work, which Swami
Vivekananda explained masterly.

But it is feasible? That's a different topic and let's keep it for some other day.

What I understand from this theory is, if you do expect something and if it doesn't turn out the way you expected it, you are in for a good amount of beating. Instead, if you do not expect anything, any result or any event will look interesting whether or not it is good.

Second theory:

This story is very interesting.

Once there was a principal of a school who wanted to conduct a study. He chose some students
and put them together in a class. He told them that they were the best in the school. And they were taught like the rest of the students.

When the results were out at the end of the year, these students fared way above others. Because everybody expected them to do good as they are the best.What does it mean? You do the thinking.

Actually, these students were chosen randomly, not the best in any way.

So, do expectations hurt? Yes, they do.

Do not expect anything when it involves people. I would rather say that expect it to be a failure, if goes well, great or you lose nothing as you were prepared for it. I might sound like a pessimist, but I don't care and if you know me, I am anything but that.

There is a saying in Telugu: Look at the negative aspect and then positive aspect of the outcome.

First, negative then positive, not the other way around. Its designed so that we don't get dragged into something by only looking at the good aspects. I think that's a good way of handling expectations.

But it becomes little complicated when we deal with friends. When we meet them traveling long distance we expect some warmth and to feel welcomed. I have learnt a solid lesson not long ago,which I am going to remember for a long time. I will write about it in my next post called indifference.