Expectations

"In a world full of options, why limit yourself by having an expectation?"
Julien Hernandez said that. He's a character in some raunchy film I watched awhile back. The line startled me, so I hopped up, grabbed a notepad, and jotted down the words so I could chew on 'em later.


Life Is a Game Show
Remember the Match Game? Contestants teamed with celebrities and tried to answer fill-in-the-blank questions. Gene Rayburn would stroll around the set waving a phallic-like microphone in peoples’ faces, asking them to match the thoughts of the likes of Charles Nelson Reilly, Richard Dawson, Brett Somers, Nipsey Russell, and McLean Stevenson.

Gene Rayburn: “Blank Expectations. What do you think, Contestant #1?”

Contestant #1: “I’m going to go with Great Expectations, Gene.”

[applause applause applause]

Charles Nelson Reilly: “It’s the story of my life. Falling short of Expectations.”

Brett Somers: “Oh, no! All I could think of was Living up to Expectations!”

Richard Dawson: “My darling, you should have gone with Unmet Expectations. Then perhaps I would have met them for you.”

Nipsey Russell:
“Charles Dickens
Would not stay at Brick Inns;
He had Greater Expectations
When he went on Vacations.
Great Expectations!"

[ding ding ding]

Another fill-in-the-blank game show was Family Feud. Drunken Richard Dawson (apparently unable to secure a real job after Hogan’s Heroes) sexually harassed all the females members of the contestant families, and then asked them to figure out how audiences responded to survey questions.

Dawson: “100 people surveyed, top eight answers appear on the board: BLANK Expectations.”

[Contestants slam their fists on red stoppers to buzz in.]

Sexually-harassed Female Family Member #1: “CHRISTMAS expectations!!!”

[Dawson snickers at the stupid answer.]

Dawson: “Survey SAYS: [BIG FAT RED X] Sorry! GREAT expectations, number one answer.”

Okay, that's enough fun and games...
This topic of “Expectations” is very serious, don’tchaknow.

Expectations of Life
I don’t remember having too many expectations for my own life, probably because I’ve never really had a plan. I’ve historically been more of a go-with-the-flow kind of person. I’m willing to experience whatever is right around the next corner. And since I’m never able to accurately predict what that might be, I’ve successfully avoided forming expectations that could have remained unmet, thereby rendering me disappointed and bitter.

Expectations of People
Sometimes I think I expect far too much from other people. And because no one can ever live up to those expectations, I sometimes feel disappointed, shocked, confused, heartbroken, and betrayed.

But to simply take people as they are -- without any expectations -- would involve a degree of detachment that I think I would find impossible, and perhaps even repulsive. It would mean unhooking my feelings from other people's behavior. I’m not sure I’m willing to do that.

Expectations of Myself
It's quite the conundrum. On one hand, expectations fuel my motivation. On the other hand, sometimes dwelling on them too deeply actually hinders more than helps.

What About "Reasonable" Expectations?
Can’t I reasonably expect certain things from life and from my friends? For instance, isn’t it reasonable to expect my friends to obsess over me as much as I obsess over them?

Okay, maybe not.

So maybe there’s no such thing as a “reasonable" expectation. Because apparently, by definition, expectations are unreasonable.

Those Annoying A.A. Slogans
“Expectations are just resentments waiting to happen.”

Well… perhaps.

I’m not really getting anywhere with this topic, so…
I started with a quote, so I’ll close with one:

"Because you're not what I would have you be, I blind myself to who, in truth, you are." -- Madeleine L'Engle

*sigh*
Karen