Life Doesn't Have to Be Hard

Expectations
Is it good to have expectations?
When you expect something to happen then that means there is an underlying belief that says things have to be done a certain way or else. In other words, you are defining what is good and what is bad. Is there such a thing as good and bad?

Say for instance Christmas day you expect to get lots and lots of presents from your relatives. You have this deep, underlying belief that says if I don’t get lots of presents on Christmas day then I will be very sad and disappointed. I will not be happy if I don’t get my presents. You don’t get your presents on Christmas day. Instead, your relatives decide to find a way to give you happiness for life. However, you can’t get over the idea that you didn’t receive presents that you don’t even realize what you’ve been given.

By creating such deep expectations for yourself you are distinguishing one path from another. There are an infinite number of paths you could possibly take but you have created one single path that must be taken under any circumstance. You cannot possibly fathom any other path except for the one you’re on at the moment because that one MUST be the right path. Any other path will not get you where you want to go. You expect the path you’re on will take you there.

Having expectations can be a good thing in that you’re making a choice and you’re saying to yourself this is what I want to experience. However, if that experience doesn’t come to pass then you must give up that expectation to allow for a new way of thinking to take hold. A way of thinking that will lead you to a different path.


Life doesn’t have to be hard
We are all here to learn and grow, it happens to all of us even if it may not seem like. We grow at different rates and different times but we all do it. Some of us grow from happy times while others grow from sad times. The sad times seem to be harder and more difficult, as though we must rush through them as fast as possible – why is this? Does it have to do with an expectation that says life should be happy and if it’s not happy then there’s something wrong with it? What’s wrong with having this expectation?

By having an expectation we are defining what is right and what is wrong. If something doesn’t go according to plan then it must be wrong. Aren’t we all just trying to learn and grow from our experiences? Are we making life more difficult by creating expectations?

If we were to lose all expectations then we would see that we don’t NEED to have the sad times be difficult for us because life isn’t always going to be happy. By telling yourself life isn’t always happy and it’s just a part of growing up then the sad times become increasingly less difficult. You lose the need to rush through the sad times which decreases the anxiety you feel and you begin to learn to go with the flow of things. When a sad time rolls around you realize okay well this is a part of life, I’m growing, I’m adapting and I’m learning from this time but it’s okay because I no longer expect life to always be happy.

The reason life is hard is because YOU make it hard. It was never hard until you defined what was hard about it. If you can make it hard then you can also make it easier on yourself by just being who you are and allowing whatever happens in your life come with ease whether it’s a “good” or “bad” experience for you.