How High are Your Expectations

How High are Your Expectations

How high do you put your expectations? This time of year people are often talking about goals, whats ahead in the new year, and with that comes our expectations for the year ahead. So many times I see people in all walks of life set goals for themselves, create such lofty expectations that they are certain not meet, and then feel as though they failed. That is not healthy, but it seems to be happening more and more these days.

This post is not about setting realistic goals, it is about US, the human US. Why do we push ourselves so hard that sometimes it leads us to medical crisis? Why is it that we don't take a moment and just be in the moment. How many of us know someone, or knew someone stricken with a life threatening disease that didn't say something along the lines of "getting sick really made me see the true important things in life, really got me to focus on those important things". Probably to a person we all can raise our hands in acknowledgment. The late Clint Miller wrote something that really struck me, and has really stuck with me as well. Clint wrote about taking the time to just look up at the sky, not for something, not for a star or planet, just a few minutes to look up for nothing in particular and take it all in.

I thought about that statement all day, and when I got home that evening it was late, a clear sky and I remembered Clint's words, so I leaned on my car, and just looked up, for about 4 or 5 minutes. Just as he suggested I didn't look for anything, I tried to keep my mind clear and just be in the moment. I can tell you that I "got it" in those few minutes I did absolutely nothing but live. It was at that precise moment that I connected with Clint. In all the books that I have read through the years, enlightenment, life enrichment etc, none spoke as loudly as that moment. I believe that Clint's (and many of the people in my life who battled a life threatening disease, win or lose) point of clarity was in there ability to keep it simple, and be in the moment. I think going through a situation on that scale lends itself to a forced life outlook as I am describing. Again, I ask why must we wait until we are forced, why can't we figure this out sooner.

So while I have made my business goal for the year, my number one goal is to remind my self to stop and just look, just be in the moment. I have been doing that a lot lately, sometimes I will be in a busy situation, see a bench and just sit, and look, and take it in. It is not a moment of clarity, or refreshment, or sanity. It is just a moment of being, there is no great reward, no great epiphany, just being, and I learned that for me, that is enough.