After doing something that we have never done before or something that we hardly ever do, we tend to evaluate the experience by comparing it to the expectations we had of it. We even teach school children that this is the way of measuring the value of a given experience. They are to hand in a sheet of paper telling us what their expectations were; if they were met and if not, they are to find out how they could have contributed to making the experience more valuable.
Now I wonder if this has anything to do with our constant urge to play it safe. The claim that we even have this urge fits horribly with our post-modern way of thinking, and I’m sure that I – with this claim – have insulted one or two people. Because how dare I argue that the bungy jumping people of the western world are afraid of running a risk? Well, I hope I’m wrong. How great wouldn’t it be if we all dared to let go of our expectations and realise that more often than not, the expected pales in comparison to the unexpected? What if we dared to cling to the life-changing wonders of what you would never even dare to expect?
You know what? Today, yesterday, and also last Monday by the way, I had an experience which didn’t meet my expectations at all. No biggy, just a text message. I didn’t expect anything bad at all; I just didn’t expect greatness either. However, that was what it was. Just for a minute I felt special in a way that I can’t explain. It was nothing really, but still, it was enough to make me spontaneously happy. And that feeling will never find its way if you expect it.
by MK