Setting Yourself Free

Peace dwells within when the mind and heart are free of expectations.

You know you have expectations. You have expectations of yourself and who you need to be; expectations of others and how they need to behave; expectations of how society should function; expectations of what it means to be a spiritually aware person in a not-so-spiritual world. 
 
However, the fewer expectations you have, the greater the possibility to live in the moment and to live in balance. Is it truly possible to let go of expectations? It may not be easy, but it is worth it.
 
Expectations take you out of the present and into the past and future. Into the past because your expectations formed in childhood in your original family and through the authority figures that influenced your perceptions and understanding of how you "should" be.

Into the future because expectations can paralyze you from moving forward if you are unsure of what it requires for you to be successful - in love, in work, even in learning how to meditate.
 
Notice the expectations that you carry with you throughout the day. You'll have plenty of opportunities to do so. You'll notice these expectations standing in the supermarket, waiting for your spouse to take out the trash, waiting for appreciation for all that you do and even when you are trying to quiet your mind and someone (who is that anyway?) keeps running a list of "shoulds" and "have to's" through your mental space.
 
“Live your life, sing your song. Not full of expectations. Not for the ovations. But for the joy of it.” ~~~Author, Rasheed Ogunlaru

I am a creative person, yet I could not write a word if I had expectations of how my writing would be received. I wouldn't be able to be in the joy of the creative moment.

And it isn't just creativity that suffers under the weight of expectations. Your authentic soul-self does as well. If you must expect something, expect that you are an inherently fallible being here to learn and experience all that life offers. And that this is a beautiful thing.

I invite you to set yourself free and let go of expectations. Let all that you are be enough.
 
With love,
 
Cathleen

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