Weighing Expectations vs. Disappointments

     Perhaps it's just me, but life seems to be a balancing act between expectations and disappointments. Disappointment is part of the human experience; we all experience it at some point.  Still, in order to avoid disappointment, we moderate our expectations.  The question then becomes: which is worse: disappointment, or perpetually low expectations?

     Going off my own life experiences, I'd say that low expectations are more debilitating, but that doesn't mean that disappointments are less painful, just that you're more likely to attempt things if you have higher expectations. In that regard, it's easier to live with low expectations for yourself, in that, you don't have to attempt much and failure is just proof of your sound prior judgment, and not an indication that you should try again harder. 

     I'm not sure how to reconstruct my expectations in a positive, but reasonable fashion. It's something I'm currently working on. There are parts of me that want to say I'll be a best-selling author or that I'll be fluent in Korean in the next few years, but then the other side of me contends that publishing is quite difficult and my stories aren't really unique or compelling, and also learning languages is hard, and historically something at which I'm terrible, because three years of being the top student in high school German apparently doesn't count for anything in this case.  (My logic isn't quite sound in these matters since my emotions are very much involved.)

     And then there are expectations outside those for myself, such as my expectations for a class or a movie, and then there are outside expectations directed at me, such as from family members or friends. There are so many different types of expectations! It's a bit mind-boggling honestly.  English really should have more words to specifically differentiate between them, without a bunch of clarification being needed.  Sometimes our language is rather lacking. 

     Also, I think we need to change the culture surrounding personal expectations. Just because something isn't particularly realistic doesn't mean it isn't possible; it's just not highly probable. Instead of talking about things in terms of unrealistic or realistic, we should use possible and probable.  Although, I suppose if we do, that would require at least a rudimentary understanding of how statistics work... (Honestly, though, I think that the world would be a better place in general if more people understood the basics of statistics.  For one thing,  it'd be harder for people to be deceived by an improper presentation of statistical information.) Anyway, to make a short thought long, I feel that it is far better to have high expectations and be disappointed in your results than it is to have low expectations and never truly attempt anything meaningful.