Have you read our previous post on The Philosophy of Hope? If not
then I recommend you check that out first because it’s a deep insight into what
hope means to me. And as I mentioned previously, in the next article I am going
to differentiate between the two very similar yet different terms i.e. hope and
expectation.
Before starting our article I want you to take a
deep dive in the ocean of your mind and explore what hope and expectation mean
to you. What do you think they are? Are they the same thing or is there any
difference between them? And if there is any kind of difference than what it
is? Take a minute and stop reading, first ask yourself the above question.
Are You Done? The Truth Reveals! Hope VS Expectation
Are you done? Then proceed on to read my views
on the topic.
When I began writing this debate over hopes and
expectations an idea sparked in my mind why not google the meaning of hope and
expectation. And here’s what I found.
EXPECTATION: A strong belief that something will
happen or be the case.
HOPE: A feeling of expectation and desire for a
particular thing to happen.
Uh oh! I think the google mixed up these two,
but Janani Sree drew a line between these two words that seem synonyms to each
other yet are different.
“There is a thin line between hope and expectationKnow that boundary,Always hope for the best and expect for the worst.”
The line is so thin that we often mistook hope
with expectation. Hope and expectations are an entirely different thing. With
one being the solution to miseries the other add up on the miseries. Hope as I
previously said is to hold the grip on one’s reality and only thinking that
whatever might happen will be good for us. On the other hand, the expectation
is when you are sure that a certain thing or person will appear as how you want
them to be but sometimes, no most of the time opposite occurs and we are ended
with broken hearts.
While expecting a certain thing, you knew in
your heart that this thing is going to happen for sure this feeling of surety
creates a negative influence that leads to great pains because when it doesn't
happen you are let down. And even when it does happen, you don't feel too happy
because it was always the part of the surety. You knew it’s going to happen anyway
then what’s there to be happy about.
Hope is something not assured, you never knew if
it’s going to happen or not, so when something does happen you feel the
happiness of it. It’s like a sweet blessing in disguise. But when it doesn’t
happen you are still cool about it because nevertheless, you weren’t sure about
it in the first place.
Didn’t quite understood? No problem I’ve got
you. Just keep reading.
Example for Better Understanding
Let me give you an example that I am sure most of you can relate,When a student gets in the ninth class (SSC Part 1) especially in the Sindh board he/she is taught one biggest thing apart from academic studying. A quote you might have heard too, (btw I wrote it above too)
Hope for the best, and expect the worst.
If you are someone from Sindh board then you possibly got the idea *smiles sarcastically*. In Sindh board no matter how hard you do in your exams it is always your luck that’s going to decide your future and not your hard-work.
Now I suggest you take a moment and consider
yourself as the ninth-class student, which you might have been or will be one
day; working damn hard to ace your exams. You are working day and night and as
hard as you could and you are confident and expect that you will get 90% easily
and the result comes out and you saw that you only got 70%. What’s going to
happen to you now? (P.S. I am not going in detail of the circumstances because
I have faced them myself and it’s too painful to dig those memories out again.
BTW it happened to me in intermediate and not matriculation).
On the other hand, you are the same as the ninth
class student working as hard as your body could afford. Did your best in exams
too and expected nothing. You do hope and pray for yourself but you are not
expecting to get 90%. When the result came and you got the same 70% but you are
happy because at least you didn’t fail, at least you got an A, and at least
some things are going to make you happy.
Check out our article on “Students and their percentage”
Don’t Get me Wrong
Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying to give up
on hard work but whatever you do, enjoy it as it is. Live your life to the
fullest and do your best in whatever you do. Life is full of uncertainty, maybe
the hard work you do today will bore fruit in the distant future. So don’t give
up, and always have a positive mindset because happiness comes to you when you
are positive from within.
Accept your life as it is and let go of the
false attachments and expectations, whether you expect things from certain
people or the circumstances, free yourself of this misery and when you do let
go then trust me your mind would be a lot more peaceful than before.
How to NOT Expect
After reading this debate the question might
have been raised in your mind that is, why do we expect? Why our minds can’t
accept the fact that not all the things we want to go our way? We know that
expectations hurt then why do we still expect?
Because
the problem lies in our minds. When you start expecting things from yourself and
people around you, you begin confining yourself in a small room without an
exit. We expect people to live up to the expectations we have for them and when
they don’t, our soul is filled with anguish for them. We hate them for being
them, we don’t accept their uniqueness just because they didn’t fulfill our
criteria for them. You see these expectations are just a bunch of negative
feelings or I call it the poison our minds pour for our soul to drink and die.
To let go of expectations you have to control your emotions, create a positive
mindset for everything in your life only then you would be able to lead a life
that is filled with countless happiness and most importantly a peaceful life.
We hope we have met your expectation with this article there is more to write about the difference but as this was getting long and we know time is money, so we hope that you get the gist of what we are trying to convey. You can add more in the comment section below. We would love to hear from you.
---Written By: Rameen Fatima Basri
---Edited By: Aheed Uddin Basri
