Simple yet elusive..

Scenario 1:

"Can you buy me a cycle mommy?", the two year old quizzed his mother. "You may have it when you come first in the class.", answered his mother. He meets the expectations and asks for it the cycle again. And lo, he gets what he wanted.

"Mommy, I want the video game", the kid places another demand. "You be a good boy at school and stop fighting with your classmates. I don't want your teacher complaining about you. Let us talk about the video game then". The kid behaves nicely and he gets what he wants.

Days, pass by and the kid gets things like cycle when he meets the expectations set on him.

Scenario 2:

The employee asks the boss, "What should I do to get the promotion?". The boss says, "You are doing at a great job at the current level. But you should take more responsibilities and accountability to take you to the next level.". He sets the ground rules and keeps raising the bar with incentives once they are met or chides him when he fails to meet.

These are just few of the instances in life where expectations are set and effort is taken to meet them. Even personal relations are not immune to them. Many times we expect few things from parents, friends and even life partner without telling them. When they are not met, the hurt that entails is more often carried for a long time. In countless cases, such disappointments how ever trivial they are, hurt us with intensity that is ineffable purely because they are caused by someone dear to us and whom we hold in high esteem. The effect is compounded multiple times because we don't expect such actions from one whom we hold dear and with immense respect. Funnily enough, the dearer the person is, more reluctant are we to say 'I expected you to do this for me'. The reasons could be many fold. (But then our minds are masters of imagining reasons and coming up with justifications.). Whatever said and done, when there is disappointment, the more intimate the relation is, the more effort it takes to handle.

While the whole world seems to be bound by this intricate whirl of expectations, what drives the rescue workers who selflessly unearth the debris? What do people who feed the orphans day in and day out expect in return? What drives the true spiritual leaders? What keeps those who fight for environment going?

May be, just may be, we all should try parking our expectations aside for a while and let people be what they and how they want to be .