Glad I can't turn back time

We all expect. We expect that our family, our friends will take care of us, help us, listen when you need them the most, that someone somewhere will think of us, and at times, think for us. We expect that we will reap the fruits of the seeds we never sowed, in a land long forgotten and alien to the concept of sowing. All in all, my point is we all expect some things that we expect us to deserve or believe is made for us, sometimes unreasonably. But where does that leave us? What does that really give us?

Disappointments, heartbreaks, shattered confidences and teary eyes. In turn, a scary world, despicable people, unreliable friendships, judging relationships and discerning attitudes.
I’ve learnt something. It may probably be termed as escapism. But what if we stop expecting things. Isn’t that what Lord Krishna asked us to do in Geeta?

Not expecting anything from anybody to do anything for us, ever. Let’s take this “not expecting things” to a deeper level.
What will happen if we stop expecting?

We will never be hurt if our friends forget us or don’t help us. If there’s a party and you are not invited, you have got nothing to be upset about, because you were not expecting to be invited anyway and you had already planned what you’ll be doing in that time. Every party invitation then comes as a surprise, although nothing changes after that. You still don’t expect people to like you, you don’t expect to have fun at the party, you don’t expect to meet new people, you don’t expect the house to be filled with people dancing and boozing [after all, in India, a popular connotation of a party is having free dinner!]. So every new person you meet is a pleasure. Everything comes as a pleasant surprise.
My disclaimer here is, you can never stop expecting from the person you know the best. You. The only person you can talk into, to take up challenges, constantly.

Not expecting does not mean following Murphy’s Law [Everything that can go wrong, will go wrong]. It just means not having any pre-conceived notions in one’s mind. When you hear of an event, say a concert, you form a certain image and a certain level of expectation in your mind. You picture yourself getting new clothes for the concert, singing the chorus with the singer, shaking hands with the band, taking a picture with the band and probably an autograph too. What you end up in doing is trying to get a glimpse of the band from the last row where you can hear the crowd more than the band.

Pessimism? Maybe. But the good thing about pessimism is that I can never be sad reminiscing because you never reminisce. I feel it is better that what’s done is done because if I had a choice you would never turn back time. This is because, it would mean, going through the same things I could barely stand happening once. whatever that's happened seems like good riddance and whatever that's gonna happen is uncertain and hence there's actually nothing to look forward to and nothing to regret. Simple.