Expectations...

I realized something today... well, no, that's not exactly right. I had thought of this before. "This" being the fact that you can only be disappointed and get annoyed at people when you have expectations from them. Today I experienced it.

I was annoyed at someone because I had expected them to do something, which they did not. Then all of a sudden, it wasn't that I stopped to think about it or anything, it just came to my mind "but why did I expect them to do that anyway? There's no specific need for it, or rule saying they should. So if I don't have a specific reason to expect them to do it, I don't have a valid reason to be annoyed by the fact they didn't do it." That synopsis took only a split second in my brain, and just like that, my annoyance vanished.

I was kind of astonished that all it took was that split-second realization...

Sometimes we can un-complicate our own lives without even trying... just by adjusting our thinking and our attitudes towards something.

It was a good day. :)

p.s.: and I just realized that my last post was titled "annoyed". However, that was a different situation, I was annoyed at stupid people who did things wrong or not at all, when they were paid to do it. It was a work thing, and since I had to fix what they had done wrong, or do what they hadn't done, I was completely right to be annoyed...

Moving again...

Theologische Hochschule Friedensau Alte Schule

So I'm moving again. In a few days I will be arriving at Friedensau University in Germany, where I will be for at least a year, hopefully more.

I was talking to some friends about the fact that here I am, picking up and moving again, leaving behind friends and family again, and having to start all over again, again. "Isn't it tiring?" they asked me. "Yes, in a way. But you get used to it." I answered.

The truth is, I'm not sure you get used to the leaving part... it's always sad to leave your friends behind and not know when you'll see them again. I'm going to miss some of them terribly (and you know who you are...). But at the same time you never get quite used to the leaving part, you get kind of addicted to the arriving part. It's always exciting and fun to see where you're going to live next, and the people you're going to meet, and the things you're going to do and learn...

Today I ran across a quote that kinda sums it up for me:

“So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more dangerous to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure.


The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.”

~Chris McCandless*



*If you haven't seen the movie "Into the Wild", watch it!!! Or even better, read the book!!!