Have No Expectations Just See Where Life Takes You

“The best things in life are unexpected – because there were no expectations.”- Eli Khamarov

Expect The Unexpected

Sit down, and grab a cup of tea, because you’re in for a treat, this article is going to be amazing. Wow, what a great way to start an article, right? Did I already give you an initial expectation?

This article may just be a complete waste of your time, or it might actually have something of value for you. Guess you’re going to have to forget that first sentence and keep reading to find out.

Life is full of many ups and downs, moments of inconceivable joy, tremendous suffering, and utter boredom, yet in the end, it is all part of a beautiful ride.

We are blessed to have a conscious mind, but it has also been one of our greatest enemies. Because of the way in which our minds are hard-wired, we perceive the world in a way that keeps us from actually experiencing it in its totality.

Our minds function through memory, from logic, and even if we are crazy, the way in which we think may still seem logical to us.

We all live with a little sensor that resides inside us, that is constantly comparing every little thing, and this comparison inevitably leads us to have many expectations.

What is an expectation? An expectation is a logical or not-so-logical way in which we want the events of our lives to unfold, how we think things should be, because of the experiences we have had in the past. You look out into the world through filters influenced by the millions of impressions you have accumulated, all safely tucked away in your brain.

How often does life go according to our expectations?

Having expectations automatically makes something in your mind a destination, which is not real. Your mind becomes closed and functions on conclusions, and then you cease to really learn about anything. But through “will” power and a lot of unnecessary effort, many of us achieve some of our expectations.

This on the surface may seem great, but all I am asking is, is this really the most joyous way to live our lives? Are expectations necessary? Shouldn’t life be lived simply and not made extraordinarily complicated?

How do we even live a life without expectations? I think the first step is to become aware of your inner censor. The little voice inside you, that automatically begins to evaluate and compare any situation against the backdrop of your beliefs. Then based on your evaluation, which is always incomplete, you will proceed with some type of action or non-action which is still a form of action.

Once you see this little voice in operation, become aware of it, and remain a passive unattached witness to it. See that this may not necessarily be the best way for you to respond to a situation. Don’t become identified with that little voice. Learning to constantly question your little inner voice automatically creates inner space for you to freely observe your thinking processes.

It’s easy to initially decide to witness your mind, but it is extremely difficult to remain unidentified. If I ask you to do it now, to take a minute to watch your mind, passively, unattached, yet very attentive, you can do it for a short while, but how long can you remain in this attentive state? This will show you that we are never really awake during the day because the majority of our time is spent inattentively.

This is why things just happen in our lives, we really don’t “do” anything. We make a strong determined resolution to do something, then soon become inattentive, and things just happen, and then we rationalize why things did not work out the way we expected them to.

Go With The Flow of Life

“I am open to the guidance of synchronicity, and do not let expectations hinder my path.”- Dalai Lama

If you are able to remain unidentified, switch your awareness to your body and all the subtle non-verbal communication that it gives you. This is an intelligence that does not function from memory and, therefore has no expectations about the future, it is here and now and will give you direction in your life.

Sure many times these signals may seem illogical, but you have to remember that this is life’s very nature. Dropping your expectations and going with the flow will allow you to be in harmony with existence, even if it seems irrational and crazy.

Life unfolds in miraculous ways the moment you embrace it, you expect the unexpected unexpectedly. Every day is an opportunity to learn something new.

But for many of us to make this jump requires that we really get in tune with the different aspects of our being. Our organism has been corrupted, become extremely dull, and not functioning in tip-top shape.

You need to learn to let your mind do its job of sane rational thinking, and your heart’s job of feeling, without letting them mix into each other and become corrupted. You need to learn to not express and become identified with negative emotions. You will see why if you really try, yet this is the most difficult thing to put into practice. Make sure you take great care of your body so that it is sensitive, then its intuitive and instinctual perceptions are allowed to function.

When you are in harmony, you are able to let go of your expectations of how life should be, and be fully available to what life actually is. See where life takes you. Enjoy the ride.

Sure it makes logical sense to make definite and specific plans and to achieve those plans, but for me, life has always been more fulfilling when it is approached with no previous expectations. Just having a curious attitude, like that of a child filled with eyes of wonder, wanting to explore a world that is unknown to him.

You live life instead of thinking about how to live. Smile, breathe, and go slowly…that pretty much sums it up.

If you enjoyed this post please help me out by passing it along to your friends and ‘like’ our Facebook Page. Also, if you have any of your own insights please share them in the comments section.

20 Responses to Have No Expectations Just See Where Life Takes You

    • thank you so much :)…glad you found my site too :)…be well….come back soon 🙂

  1. I couldn’t quite grasp the concept of no expectations because I guess I didn’t have a clear definition of what expectations are. I do now. Thank you and I love your work.

    • It is my pleasure :)…glad you liked it….thank you for checking out my site :)…be well

  2. I find when I let go of expectations, it’s like a boulder lifted off my shoulder. All pressure and stress go away. I can just be.

  3. Hi Ivan,

    You are so right. Its time to let go of the expectations. Yes, it is sad when people or family members dont treat the way way you would treat them. But i guess the only way to cure that sadness is just acknowledge it then let it go. What do you think?

  4. To accept what live is giving you without judgement or malice, being able to just accept what is, this i think is the key to living a life without expectations our own expectations of ourself are sometimes the most difficult to be rid of so it may be easier to turn that expectation on to another there lies the problem your mind is the creator of all things in your life. So change your mind and change your life.

  5. Im still a bit confussed.
    Im the type of person that subcontiously I expect for things to always go correctly as imagined or planned.. but then i seem to get dissapointed and sad when it doesnt.. i stuggle with that a lot and sometimes i dont even notice i do it. could you help? how do i let myself live daily without expecting a friendship, or dating, or job idea to work out at the end?

    • thanks so much for visiting my site maria…meditate..go within…learn to be a witness of your mind…loose your identification with the purely conceptual world of the mind…see how insubstantial it really is….the more you live in the now..the more your expectations will drop… expectations come from remembering the past and projecting it into the future….go from thinking to feeling to being….in learning to just “be” you will come to understand all there is worth knowing…

  6. That’s easy for you to say. You’re traveling and you don’t even live in your own country. Of course you don’t have any expectations….

  7. A beautiful ‘how to’ book to compliment what you are saying is ‘The Presence Process’ by Michael Brown. I highly recommend it.

  8. Just the last week, I came to realize I really needed to let go of my dreams, so I can let go of my expectations, and now today, I’m free from them, nearly completely. I also remember the times I got the things I wanted after I stopped expecting them to happen! Now I see expectations as blocks, walls or even bad trees (which grows fruits, aka problems!)

    • So happy to hear that robert, you realized a very important thing 🙂 that makes me happy! Good luck on the rest of your journey…

  9. Ivan:

    I was led to this article from another blogger who raved about your post about letting go of expectations. I can definitely relate to the power of surrendering our expectations and going with the flow.

    In fact, something happened to me recently that reminded me of the importance of that and I’m about to make a new video about this soon (I have a YouTube channel that’s recently been resurrected.)

    I see you’re in Korea – I’m in the USA.

    Cheers!

  10. Thank you so much for this article, it was EXACTLY what I needed to read today. I have been struggling with expectations and their disappointments far too long; I knew they were bad, I just didn’t know how to let go of them since they seemed to just pop up out of no where. I am definitely going to try this, thank you so much!

    • Really happy to hear that Nandi, wish you the best on your inner journey…come back and let me know what discoveries you make…peace and love…ivan

  11. I think when we are not satisfied with ourselves or not fullfill moral,Physical or habitual goal or Commitment done to ourselves then we feel frustrated or disappointed.so we should have some realistic expectations from ouverselves and others or n expections and just enjoying the work without too much focus on final outcome e.

Leave a reply