Why we are never taught to expect rationally?

Since times immemorial, human beings have been spending their lives expecting one thing or the other from their loved ones, or out of life itself. Expectation is defined as ‘a strong belief that something will happen or be the case’.

Expecting to have a job that sustains life well enough is justified, while expecting to become the richest guy in the town is equivalent to aiming too high. Now I am not against the saying ‘DREAM BIG’, I am simply saying that we, as young people, must acknowledge the difference between Hope and Expectations.

We have not been taught the right way of expecting: the rational expectation.

A rational expectation is Hope, an irrational expectation is Delusion.

We have been taught to either set our expectations low or equal to zero so as to avoid future disappointment, or too high so that we can feel more confident about the future results.

Both the kinds usually go futile. When we expect less, we do less because we start believing that the result will not be worth the effort. On the other hand, when we expect too much, we end up getting hurt or disappointed because after all expectations are bounded by dependence on a person or a future situation over which we have no control.

I know of a man who kept saying ‘No’ to everything because he was depressed and didn’t expect to be healed. One day, his friend forced himself to attend a seminar where he learnt the power of saying ‘Yes’ to everything that came in his way. He reluctantly tried the therapy and after finding himself in many unpleasant situations, he crossed paths with a very interesting girl, and things changed for good thereafter, and he sort of became the happiest man in that movie!

That man is Jim Carrey in the movie ‘Yes Man’. Do watch it to understand the point I am trying to make below:

Expecting nothing and doing nothing will fetch nothing, while expectations when balanced with equal effort or execution will land you in that fairy world kind of reality. Opportunities should not be expected to just come in our way by themselves; we’ve got to make the effort of recognising as well as capitalising on them.

“I AM GOING TO FAIL!”
Our thoughts shape our reality. By expecting that we would fail we are already lowering our self-confidence and limiting our chance at success.  

We should realise that we will experience our fair share of trying times, but also that we will end up in the right, happy place that we are supposed to be in. A right kind of effort combined with realistic, rational expectation that the result/consequence  shall be in our favour in the long run will make our lives easier and merrier.

So folks, make sure you say Yes to rational expectations!