Expectations

I don't remember how old I was when I read Charles Dickens' novel Great Expectations. I do remember finishing it with unfulfilled expectations. To whose "great expectation" did the title refer? Were the "great expectations" met?

Expectations are funny things. I wonder if life ever really lives up to our expectation of it? This past week a Whole Foods store opened in Oklahoma City. Many people have been greatly anticipating this event. As I attempted to wonder through the store on the day after the grand opening (it was still far too crowded to truly wander), I overheard an employee mention that on opening day some people arrived at 4 am with lawn chairs to await the grand opening. Now I've heard of such "camping out" for Apple products, movies, and even books but for the grand opening of a . . . grocery store? Don't get me wrong, as I surveyed the deli and salad bad, my expectation were more than satisfied. But what type of expectations must a person have to arrive at 4 am?

When I graduated from high school in May of 1992, I expected to graduate from college exactly four years later. Well, two years later I did receive my Associates of Liberal Arts. So far, so good. Then life happened. Four years later I was receiving my Associates of Science in Nursing. This was now six years after graduating from high school. Already my expectations were a little battered. This coming May, 20 years after graduating from high school I will be receiving my Bachelors of Science, not the Bachelors of Arts I was expecting 20 years earlier. All of those early expectations were unfulfilled. Now I have new expectations regarding a Masters degree.

A colleague of mine asserts that expectations in general are the source of most of the discontent people experience. Yet, I feel addicted to generate expectations. My own "great expectations" of 20 years ago were not met, but they have been replaced by what I think are better expectations. So, are expectations motivating you or making you discontent?