Expectations or Aspirations?

Aspirations are our wish to achieve things. Expectations are the strong hope that something will happen.

Aspirations are what happen inside us. They arise from within us and require action on our part. I aspire to help others. I aspire to get a graduate degree. I aspire to enjoy the day whether the sun shines or the rain pours down.

Expectations are what happen outside us. I expect others to appreciate my help. I expect to graduate and then get a good job. I expect the sun to shine and the rain to hold off for another day.

Aspirations show our higher goals. I aspire to be more patient, to spend more time with my children, to be a model of goodness, to meet my parent's ideals for me.

Expectations are more ordinary. And they involve others, which makes them so unpredictable and expose us to much unhappiness. An aspiration is a wish that I act on, but an expectation depends on others to perform or a situation to unfold as I want.

Expectations bind us to disappointment.

Aspirations allow us to soar.

Comments

[Cameo]

Dear Venerable, I enjoyed this blog about aspirations and expectations. It cleared up my thoughts about the problem of expectations. After all the karma cleaning I've done, this was a big "aha". It helped me to see that the real difference between the two is that expectations are PASSIVE and they are like "wishes" for the future, which are a waste of time. When others have expectations for me, I feel resistant to their need to have me do something for them. When I concentrate on fulfilling other's expectations of me, I deny my own authority and do not have the energy to follow my own practice. Unfulfilled expectations are a major problem in marriage relations.

On the other hand, aspirations are ACTIVE. They are the resolve to DO something here and now. Aspirations work with reality and are much more likely to be achieved. They are a forward movement in our evolution, even if we can't get them all done. They involve ourselves as the doer and not the"other" who is supposed to do things for us. Well,this subject was something I must have needed today.Thank you, Venerable
Amituofo
Cameo

[Venerable Wuling]

Cameo, Exactly! Passive and active are excellent ways to elaborate on the important diference between expectations and aspirations. Thank you or a a very helpful comment!