The Expectations vs. Reality Game

I just watched (500) Days of Summer again. A beautiful film that plays out non-linearly, one of the prominent themes of it (besides love) is the idea of expectations vs. reality. Although the film explores this theme in regard to relationships, it's one that occurs everywhere. We have expectations for starting a new company, new job, new home, a new city, a new project.  We have expectations of an existing company, existing job, existing home, existing city, existing project. Expectations are a curious thing. Having expectations allows us to feel optimistic and can sometimes help us reach a goal we long for. On the flip side, expectations that aren't met can leave us feeling disappointed, disillusioned and even depressed.

Expectation

Reality

Here are some the questions are swimming around in my head:

How do you handle expectations?

What kind of expectations should we have?

What do you do when reality doesn't meet your expectations?

Should we even have expectations anyway or just be surprised when something good happens?