The Purposes of Expectations

Since the day you or I were born, we had parents setting expectations for us. It could be from the time we were carried in their arms while sleeping whispering what we would be like, or maybe they have plans for us to become successful as we begin to take our first steps. In time people from either in the family or friends group want something out of each and every one of us. It seems like we have goals and dreams that would make people be proud or ashamed of us. It may be far fetched, but to say the least there are expectations we have to overcome or accomplish to set our lives.

An expectation is like a quarter; flip on one side and you get an excellent or terrible option. Some expectations can lead you to a good life with choices that gives you happiness, pride, and love. Other expectations can lead you to a dark path that could only result in depression, plagued with guilt, and out of touch. In addition, it's expectations that make us who we are as a person. It drives us to form a character trait that only a few people can relate to. We can gather information and process lifestyles we set ourselves up to want. It’s most likely that expectations help us with what choices we make and how it affect our future. Think of it as our starting line. When the expectations are set, we need to follow a track and move forward. We may have barriers and obstacles to get through, and sometimes they come out of nowhere, yet we as an individual must get past them to move up from where we originally were.

With expectations, we are able to develop new skills and techniques that we developed and use for the rest of our lives. For example, a toddler is expected to learn how to walk sooner or later. If they don’t follow or care about the expectation of walking, then when they grow they will be the only human to crawl as the rest of society could just walk normally. As months pass, we have a new expectation of talking. A few months later, that same toddler now needs to learn how to pick up words and pronounce their own words. If they don’t, then they will have no way to speak with words. As time goes on, we start to set our own expectations. These expectations are only specific for anybody. They can be small like wanting to be outgoing, or wear different type of clothes, and they can be large like wanting to apply for a job or trying to find a partner for a romantic relationship. Whatever the cases may be, expectations give us options only we can choose to come up with new abilities as human beings.

To add on to the usage of expectations, they give us standards—standards in which everyone has set themselves from the expectations they followed. We all have an image to set up to present who we are in different representations. These could be seen with celebrities and politicians. These people have set high expectations to create an image that they have for people to like and relate to in order to gain power and wealth. People looking for jobs are put in interviews so their bosses can see what is expected from them and see if they are fit to work with them. Therefore, no matter what the subject, there always will be standards to set up to line up with the expectation to follow.

Expectations can grow and develop like we humans. We need them in order to learn and improve ourselves and how we act, how we live, and how to set out to become better every step of the way. Some people may have expectations for good or bad, for these are what makes a person think about what’s right and what’s wrong. Some expectations can be used to bring change or hold back change. Expectations are used with the power of the ones setting them up. In conclusion, expectations gain what we want, what we are, and who we will become as an individual or as a society.