Friday, November 20, 2009

More from the Drifter

"High expectations tend to make poor travel partners".
This line from the Drifter really got me thinking.
Tomorrow I'm heading to my house in Puerto
Rico for a bit. I can't wait to get back to wearing
board shorts, flip flops, and a t shirt and feeling the warmth
of the tropical sun. As for the surf, I never expect too much
and am always happy for what I get. As long as I can get a few
waves I can be very content.

Over the years I've discovered that keeping expectations for
waves on any surf trip low helps make for a better experience.
I've regularly run across traveling surfers who were bummed
because the waves weren't perfect or as big as they'd hoped.
For them the trip was all about surfing not the total experience
of seeing a different country, a different culture, meeting people
and getting a chance to think about yourself and your life from a
different vantage point, a different perspective.

Expectations play a big role in our lives. Sometimes when the
gap between our expectations and our perception of the reality
is great we feel stressed, upset, out of sorts. Some day I'm going to
make a chart to visually illustrate that point. I see that distress
in my clients regularly. They have certain expectations of how
things "should be" and often what they get doesn't match their
expectations. Bet you can cite a few example in your own life.
Keeping expectations in line with reality doesn't make you a
negative person or take away your ability to hope and dream.
Sometimes if you've been able to keep your expectations in line
you just might get pleasantly surprised when things turn out
better than you'd hoped for.

1 comment:

Stray Cat said...

Lowering expectations definitely means less disappointments. Thanks for writing.