Expectations...

In setting up an expectation, one is mentally reshaping the future in an attempt to move into a more desirable state of being. Therefore, there is always the question as to whether in the act of creating an expectation, one has fully extracted all the joy the present moment has to offer.

When one is totally “content” in the present moment, how can there be a “yearning” for anything more, or different?

As a result of pondering this question, you will realize that the two ideas of “contentment” and “expectation,” both form an “inverse relationship,” where any increase in contentment results in a decrease of expectations, and the opposite is true as well.

Zen masters do not meditate for years on how they might increase their portfolio, or achieve world domination. Contentment can only be had and experienced in the “present moment,” and an endless list of personal future expectations, leads one “away” from contentment, not into it.

Can humanity move ahead then without expectations? No it can’t.

As in all things balance is the key. A life lived with no inner drive caused by expectations, must be limiting by nature, as would a life lived with nothing but continual contentment.
Read more: http://sanora1.wordpress.com/sanora-writings/sanora-on-expectations/