Are Your Expectations Setting You up for Disappointment?
Adapted from: Amanda Christian
“Waking up to who you are requires letting go of who you imagine yourself to be.”
-Alan Watts
Do you find that you walk into the yoga room and "expect" something from yourself? From your teacher? From a sequence or a pose? How often does a teacher remind you to, "listen to the cues" but you find yourself doing something habitually, instead of HEARING what is happening. Intstead of embracing change in your body and in your patterns. It can be difficult, but change can start anywhere. Why not on your mat? A lot of these expectations, you may find, are self-imposed...
The following are some tips and lessons you can use while making the transition from expectation overload to the lightness of exploration.
Less Expectation, More Exploration And Trust
When expectations rule our lives, we set ourselves up for disappointment. Then guess what? We judge ourselves harshly for it. The most important thing you may learn is to release your expectations about how you think your life should go, and approach life from a place of exploration.
This opens you up to experiencing things that are beyond your wildest dreams.
It’s okay to have goals, but make sure to leave room for something even greater to come along. Maybe the most peaceful and quickest way to achieve something is a way you haven’t thought of yet. Be willing to go with the flow. Explore through life knowing deep down that you are always guided to exactly where you need to be. Plus, doesn’t exploring sound like more fun than expecting?
Look Beyond Your Distractions
A lot of us want external things because of the way we think they will make us feel. We want a skinnier body because we thought it would make us feel happy and loved. I want a successful career because we think we would feel fulfilled. We want a relationship because we think it will relieve our loneliness.
These things can distract us from looking within ourselves for answers. When they fail to do what we want, we feel disappointed and angry. In order to release this cycle of disappointment, we need to release the belief that they will save us.
If you want to experience more love, start giving more love. If you don’t want to feel lonely, then start healing the belief that you are alone. If you want to feel like you’re worth something, start treating yourself like you are worth something, because you most definitely are.
When you heal the beliefs that run wild in your mind, you can still enjoy the externals, but you’re no longer trying to get something from them. You know you’re already fulfilled, happy, and complete, so if your circumstances change, you can maintain your joy.
Relax More, Judge Yourself Less
I’ve learned that the loving voice within, also known as our inner guide, has a bigger plan for us than we have for ourselves. The only thing you need to do in order to follow the path of your inner guidance is listen to it by releasing your judgments about what you think is happening. You don’t have to have everything figured out right now.
Get quiet and listen for guidance about what to do in this moment. Any advice coming from love will be something you can do now. The thought of doing it will make you feel lighter and excited.
Change Your Thoughts
If you are feeling disappointed, it’s because of the thoughts you have about the situation. So if you don’t want to feel disappointed, change your thoughts. Step into your power. Everything happens for you, not to you.
You’ll be amazed at the shifts in perception that occur when you become willing to release fear and see love instead. When you focus on releasing the thoughts about how you imagined your life to be, your most loving, truthful self can come forward and guide you. There is nothing to figure out. Namaste.