I've learned to trust only myself and to expect only one thing from everything else: failure. The one thing we can all count on is our own demise. We will all die. Nothing you see and no one you know will last forever. I don't place faith in fallible things, including and especially other humans. Doing so would be not only a huge waste of time, but comparable to playing Russian roulette with a fully loaded gun... and taking the first turn.
I maintain a very pessimistic outlook on the world and its future, while at the same time being very optimistic about myself and my future. I have the capability of controlling myself and my future, but what kind of control do I have over the world and its future? How could anyone say they have control over the choices of billions of people?
The helpful side of me wants to educate and warn others of how they are being herded like cattle by those with the power to control the things we put our trust in: the media, money, our jobs, our health, and the machines that make everything run. But why? What's the point? I can help others and I can even try to help the whole world, but what good is my help to them if I haven't taken care of myself? I'm not talking about being selfish. Selfishness is the act of being concerned with your own interests and the advantage excluding others gives you, not the act of helping yourself so you're more capable of helping others.
Human beings are very imperfect and fallible creatures. That's why nearly every human being strives for perfection in one way or another. Constantly reminding myself that no single person has ever been, nor will ever be perfect is a very eye-opening experience. When I have zero expectation for myself, for others, or for the world, I begin to realize that the only thing that really matters is who I am in this moment and how prepared I am for the next.
Time will continue moving forward. This moment will not. Don't expect it to.
Hey bro,
Nice post and thanks for the feedback. It is incredible how even imperfect we are, we’d still try to reach for the what we think is perfect. We all fall short in something and it takes the wiser of people to grasp, in the most deeply-convicting way, a hold of that Truth. As I like to state, our hearts need to be filled with something not of this world, but eternal. What one person would think what that eternal thing is is….well… up to the religion they believe.
But I’m right along with you, we can expect this world to have nothing for us.
Peace man!
Phonz
Thanks Phonz,
Imperfection is what makes us human. To strive for perfection is to live up to what makes us human. That means if we accept things as they are and take zero initiative to improve ourselves and everything around us, we’re basically slapping humanity in the face.
What we need doesn’t exist in the world outside of us; it exists in the world within us. The world outside of us needs what exists within us. And only we can bring it out.
I actually learned that from a girl I dated once. She never expected anything from anyone. If her friends were flaky or someone made a bad decision it didn’t affect her at all. It leads to better relationships with people, and once you stop projecting expectations on other people life gets a lot easier.
Thanks for the comment Raf,
I always like to say, “If you never expect anything, you’ll never be disappointed when something doesn’t (or does) happen.”
Expectation truly is the root cause for so many negative things.
I agree 150% Raam. This is truely a nice post.
Yep, expectations are the root of many negative things. frustration, anxiety, anger, boredom, etc, even false excitement which is immediately perceived as positive but when its over it hits you like a diabetic in sugar shock.
For some reason this piece of rhetoric never gets old to me; “Just like you can’t give someone a million dollars if you don’t have it or feed all of Africa if you yourself are starving, you can’t help anyone until you’ve helped yourself.
I disagree w/ you though, even though its kinda hard after i just watched zeitgeist twice. Pessimism is inexcusable.