Expect: To consider probable or certain. To consider reasonable, necessary or due. This definition has the potential to build souls, but also provides ammunition for destruction. Let’s discuss the power of expectations.
If an expectation is unreasonable, or is delivered in a harsh way, the child will still take responsibility and do all they can to fulfill it.
On first impression, the word “expect”, and its concept are benign and positive.
There are some words in the definition which suggest trouble in relation to what is going on in someone’s mind when they have emotional or mental challenges.
What does your gut say?
Intro
Sherlock Holmes had to fake death in the 1943 Sherlock Holmes movie “The Spider Woman” to get the angle on a case he needed. In a beautiful scene, Mrs. Hudson comforts Dr. Watson by telling him that “What cannot be cured, must be endured.”
Her observation of acceptance is in line with what we often talk about here. It will make your life easier if you are a victim of expectations from the past.
Soul destroying
Being a former clinician and a veteran of mood, anxiety and substance disorders, I can testify to the fact that expectation is capable of destroying souls.
It’s hard to count the number of cases I’ve heard and read where expectation is cited as a major factor in illness.
What to expect as a child
We’ll go back to childhood or adolescence, where the work of expectation began. Soul building is important when expectations are reasonable and delivered with love.
The other side is that unreasonable and harshly delivered expectations can lead to soul destruction.