Close your eyes for a moment and allow the memories of this past week to rise within when you were pained and hurt. Go a little deeper and look for what is in the root of this pain. Yes unmet expectation. In the words of William Shakespeare “Expectation is the root of all heartache” and if we ponder we shall realise how true this is.

As we analyse what expectation is we understand that expectations are an extensions of our beliefs. Wherever we go, whatever we do, we do not meet life as it is. Rather we experience our expectation of how we think life should be. Expectations are silent reactions conditioned by our past which reoccur in present. When it comes to relationships we are pre-programmed by our upbringing to have certain beliefs and expectations about how things should be.

How often have we expected our children, spouses’ friends, family and colleagues to act in a certain way and when that expectation was not met it resulted in anger, hurt or disappointment. Our expectation of them coloured our perception and thus created a vicious cycle of negative emotions souring and weakening the weaves of relationships.

As humans, witnessing an array of emotions and needs expectation is natural but it makes life difficult for us. Unstated needs are hidden expectation where we want the other to read our mind and fulfil them which are sometimes not possible. Standardized expectation set us up for failures because what actually happens in our lives is very different from how we feel it should happen. Very often we experience sadness, rejection and feeling unloved because the significant other behaved in a way different than what we expected and anticipated. Expectation and peace share a reverse relationship.

As “Sri Chinmoy” beautifully states ‘Peace begins when expectations end so the way to peace and harmony is by releasing expectations, unconditional acceptance and unconditional giving. Be in this space of zero expectation and be at infinite peace. Difficult yes but attainable.

Be Peaceful!

Angelic Blessings!

Swati Anurag.