Last week I took a flight to New York City to visit my family to celebrate my Mother’s birthday. I always enjoy myself whenever I go home to visit. My goal for this trip was to recharge my batteries with the Love of my immediate family.
In the lead up to my trip, I have had a very busy week. I traveled to Augusta and Savannah during the first part of the week for work. I had several projects ramping up and one big one winding down. The project that is winding down is located at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. I went to the airport on Monday morning to check out the project and saw excessively long lines at the security checkpoints. I was taken a back because it wasn’t a holiday. Then, I realized that it was due to the government shutdown. I noted that I would need to leave home in plenty of time to make it through the security checkpoint for my flight later in the week.
When it was time to pack for my trip, I remembered what I saw at the airport earlier in the week and decided to change how I was packing for my trip. I normally check my bag. I do not like carrying too many things through the airport nor do I like dealing with a lot of bags on the plane. But I thought better of it for this trip. I was not sure how much of the airport’s services would be affected and thought better of checking my bag. So, I sat down and took some time to think about what I would pack to make sure I had everything that I needed but that my bags would not be to heavy or cumbersome for me to carry. This made me realize, that although my goal was to enjoy my family, I had certain ideas or expectations about how that would happen.
This was a wonderful exercise because it was a reminder for me about the difference between expectancy and expectation. When you set an expectation, you marry yourself to a particular outcome. In doing so you often set yourselves up for frustration and disappointment. Expectations can sometime lead to tunnel vision. You only see what you have allowed yourself to see. Then when the unexpected happens you are less flexible, less open to change, and sometimes unable to control your response to various situations.
When you set expectations, you are not living in the Now Moment. Expectations force you to anticipate what may happen in the future. A future that you could not possibly predict. You end up basing your predictions about the future on events and circumstances that happened in the past. Who you were in the past is not who you are now, and most definitely won’t be who you are in the future. You are an ever-evolving and ever-expanding being. So, what may have been true for the person you were, may not be true for the person you are now.
When you set expectations, you set limits for your abundant life. You literally put a box around the experiences you may have. You are so busy looking for your expectations that you don’t make time to for the new opportunity that the universe has offered you. You are so disappointed about your expectations not being met that you can’t be happy or grateful for the new experiences that you are having. You are so blinded with frustration for not getting what you think you deserve that you can’t see as it says in Ephesian 3:20, “Spirit has done exceeding abundantly above all that you ask or think.”
Instead of setting expectations, have any expectancy of great things happening in alignment with your intentions for 2019. Expectancy allows you to see things a new. It helps you to have a different perspective, one that is open and receptive to the newness and expansion of life that happens in every present moment.
Expectancy is living in a state of Gratitude. It allows you to be appreciative for all that is, as it is. Living with Gratitude means you acknowledge that all is in accordance with your highest and best good.
Expectancy allows you to live in the now and follow the advise given in Matthew 6:34, “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself.”
Just this minor shift in how I saw my trip made a big difference in the way I packed. I decided to throw out all expectations for what would happen on this trip and instead created an expectancy of all good. Knowing that whatever my family planned and whatever we did or did not do would be just what we all needed and would be in Divine Order. It allowed me to be more efficient, to pack lighter and to be even more excited about my trip.
There was another by-product of this shift to expectancy instead of expectation. There was no line when I got to the security checkpoint and was able to sail through security, get to my gate early and relax until it was time to get on my flight. It reminds me of the following quote:
“When you release expectations, you are free to enjoy the things for what they are instead of what you think they should be.”
Mandy Hale
Remember expectations create limitations for your experiences. Expectancy makes room for the limitless possibilities of love, kindness, compassion and abundance. That is what is waiting for you in every now moment.
Today’s Affirmation is:
“I See positive opportunity in each and every present and perfect moment.”
~Rev. Drea