Not so great expectations...

Well, hello again, so before I begin, I just want to apologise for not being here, I do have an excellent excuse though, I’ve been -quite literally-up in the air. But now I am safely back on the ground, I wanted to share a few thoughts which occurred to me, following the recent furore over the reported comments by the Republican candidate, Donald Trump. Now, before I continue, I have no intention of becoming involved in any political discussion, aside from the fact, it is for the American people alone to choose their leader, I don’t want to stray too far from my central theme, which is expectations.

I would imagine, before all the discussion, Mr Trump was known to be a successful businessman, who was perhaps seen by some as controversial, but, nevertheless, a public figure. Undoubtedly, he must have gained many admirers, people who aspired to emulate both his success and his personality. When he began his presidential campaign, I am sure the country had their ideas about what he was like, and so it follows, some expectations. They must have assumed he was an intelligent, well-read man, used to dealing with heads of state, senior businessmen etc So perhaps, the idea of having him in charge of the country seemed like a good idea, after all, coming from outside the political world, he could potentially bring an entirely new perspective to running the country. Obviously, since the revelations about his attitude to women and those from other cultural and/or religious backgrounds, you find yourself facing the fact, those original expectations were unrealistic. But does that mean they all have to be? Are we destined to be permanently let down? I am hoping the answer to both those questions is a resounding ‘no.’

In my own life, as I am sure in yours, I have a degree of expectation, for example, to be treated properly, after all, I try to be mindful of others, so it doesn’t seem too much to ask, for that to be reciprocated, sadly, this doesn’t always happen. A further example would be, all children should have the expectation to be brought up by a loving family in a safe environment, but that doesn’t always happen either- but in our modern world, surely it should. It just seems to me, we are all in danger of setting our sights too low, we expect ‘the worst’ now and maybe that’s why it’s happening. The general public seem to have little or no expectation, our politicians have any real interest in anything other than furthering their own careers while slipping ill-gotten gains into their wallet. Nobody is even remotely surprised when public figures are revealed to be involved in drugs or sex scandals, in fact, it’s almost expected.

But this lack of expectation isn’t only for the rich and infamous, even in our every day lives, we don’t seem to expect too much either..despite the raft of equal rights legislation, too often there are stories within the media, where morale within employees has sunk so far, they have no ambition left at all. It’s almost as if, too readily, we simply accept disappointment and anyone still with any genuine expectations is considered foolish, if that is allowed to continue, apathy invariably creeps in and we are left with no hope at all.

However, as I said earlier, I don’t believe we should be quite so quick to believe there is nothing to be gained by having expectations. As in the case of Mr Trump, perhaps the recent troubling revelations about his alleged core beliefs, might make others stop and think about their own conduct. I can only hope, they will consider not only about how their behaviour can negatively impact their own aspirations, but also how with each revelation, the rest of the world will ultimately be forced to accept lower standards as normal.

Even in what some might perceive as less important ways, we all have to be aware of being ‘less’ than what someone else might rightly expect from us. I know, for example, when a new movie or song is released, the fans rightfully have the expectation of, at the very least, being entertained with new material. So the level of disappointment is almost palpable, when the artist finally releases a new album, and its discovered to contain little more than a few mediocre songs and reworkings of various previous hits. For me, what is worse, is when fans save money to buy tickets to see their favourite singer, only for their idol to either turn up late, or if they do make it to the stage, they ramble incoherently or, storm off after two songs, deciding they ‘simply cannot carry on any longer’. Sadly, the audience is left with their expectation of a memorable night shattered, while the performer still receives the wildly generous paycheck without suffering as much as a sleepless night. But as in all things in life, there is balance, many other stars create shows which exceed even the fans’ highest expectations, as they wish to show their appreciation for the ongoing support. I guess this suggests, when people rightfully expect something of you, you have to do your best to achieve it, so maybe having a conscience is also a part of the equation.

I truly believe, the key to maintaining high expectations, in whatever area of life, is to consider our actions more carefully- all of us- not just a few. As if we aim to achieve them, maybe we are going to be less keen to accept anything less, our expectations are ours to control, but not just those we hold for others, more importantly the ones we have for ourselves...until the next time…

Take care out there xx