The Curse of Expectations

     

 They say, work without expectation of the reward,

Accept the circumstances as it is,

However, would you do the work for which you never got any recognition?

 

Or would you leave it?

 

Or would you struggle with it till the very end?

 

Would you accept that it won’t work out, but do it anyway?

 

Or would you just do it, because it makes you happy?

 

Reward is what motivates a human,

 

That is the brain’s default wiring,

 

How can you expect one to go on without the carrot?

 

How to be okay if it doesn’t work out?

 

Will you walk on path if you knew the end was bad?

 

Accept the struggle, but struggle anyway?

 

Acceptance sounds sweet, but is in fact a bitter drink,

 

The questions are many, and the answer is blurry,

 

For until you walk on the path,

 

The answer is never clear,

 

For we are bad judges of what will make us happy,

 

It is only when you get to the door of heaven,

 

You realise maybe you wanted hell,

 

We estimate the worth of the present,

 

With the estimate of the worth of the future,

 

Is the net present value worth the time we will spend now?

 

We go with the optimism for the end,

 

Isn’t life all about that – Keep going, till the very end?

 

Isn’t it better to live fully?

 

To seize life with all its pain and suffering,

 

Than to just live like the dead wood flowing wherever the river flows,

 

Without any expectations of the sea it will see,

 

Hoping for the best seems hopeless when the future is,

 

Volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous,

 

However, it is all the more a reason to hope.

 

Ah! Two ways to live! Both with their own trials,

 

Expectations cause misery,

 

However, expectations are what propel us forward,

 

Without expectations there is joy always,

 

However, we go with the expectation of joy,

 

Alas, that is the curse of expectations,

 

Our personal curse,

 

The one which we have to live with,

 

Till we learn to accept the truth,

 

And balance ourselves,

Learning when to chase and when to let go.

 

 

--

 

 

Please let me know your thoughts and perspective in the comments below! I love to read them!

Do subscribe to my blog to get updates on whenever I post new stories or poetry! Also because it makes me happy!

If you want to read stuff on finance and tech, you can check out my other blog - https://fintechandeverythingelse.blogspot.com/ 

Also, Do come say hi to me on instagram!