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Today's
Meditation:
It's
nice to see that sometimes, the advice of parents is not
only heard, but heeded. In this case, Tiger's
parents passed on a very wise principle to their son, and
he internalized it, helping himself to be a much stronger
and happier person. For there's no doubt that trying
to please other people with all that we do is a way to
make ourselves miserable, while defining and trying to
reach our own expectations is a very positive and
productive way to go through life.
Nobody
knows the life you're living, and nobody else knows what
your dreams and goals and abilities are. So
realistically speaking, how can anyone else devise a set
of expectations that match your unique self? Other
people's expectations are artificial at best, destructive
at worst, and it's up to us to be realistic as we decide
whose expectations we truly should follow.
Most
expectations have their origins in history, in the ways
that other people have done things. Somehow we
develop expectations that the people in the present and in
the future will continue to do things in the same ways,
whether those ways make sense or not. The coat and
tie provide a beautiful example-- no one works any better
because of the particular clothes they're wearing, but
because people in certain positions are expected to wear a
tie, they do so. It doesn't matter that most of the
people who visit a bank don't care one way or another if
the banker's in a tie or a t-shirt, as long as he or she
is professional and competent. As long as two or
three people might complain because their expectations of
a banker being in a tie aren't met, then others expect the
same thing of the banker.
Live
up to your own expectations. Have your own
expectations, and make sure they're uniquely yours.
Know the situations in which you may be providing a
service to others by meeting their expectations, but be
sure you know why you do so. Your life is yours to
live, and it's important that you live it on your terms.
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