Expectations: You Get What You Believe You Will

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend my class reunion. Admittedly, I was not excited about it. I wasn’t that popular in high school and most of the people who would attend were strangers by now as we’ve all gone out and lived our own lives in various places. The single strand of commonality – our graduation from high school – was but a distant memory, so what was the benefit of going to a reunion with a bunch of strangers.

Granted, there were several friends who I always like seeing and because we live miles apart that doesn’t happen often, but for many of the people, had it not been for the customary name tags, I wouldn’t have been able to pick them out of a line-up. Likewise, had I not had on my name tag, I doubt many would have recalled my name without the sticky reminder on my shirt.

I did what I expected to do. I visited with my friends, said “hello” to the strangers who happened to mingle where I was and never conversed with many in attendance. I left long before things ended and headed home as I now live in my hometown.

On my way home, I realized I got out of the reunion exactly what I expected to get. I confirmed my biased belief of what I would get. But why?

I realized I was so invested in being right about the reunion that I didn’t approach it as the opportunity it was to learn about the journey of others. Even if I wasn’t close with them in high school and hadn’t stayed in touch with them, every one of them had experiences on their journey that I most likely didn’t. All of them had a story to tell and I could have learned from their story, but I decided walking in that I wasn’t expecting much and sure enough…that’s exactly what I got.

I was reminded of something I already knew though – if I expect little, I can guarantee that’s exactly what I will get.
There is no telling the learning I missed out on because I didn’t expect to find it at my reunion. My loss!

Expect more! Look for the learning in each situation!