… Now I’m left here, I’m left here, I’m left here, I, I, I ….
You know I’m totally singing that song now, thanks Spandau Ballet!
But seriously folks …
A good friend of mine has a very weird interesting way of looking at life. Forget glass half full or glass half empty; instead, pretend there isn’t any glass at all!
Because that is her philosophy: she doesn’t look forward to ANYTHING. Not Christmas. Not moving into a new house. Not an upcoming holiday. NOTHING. Nada. Zip.
She says it works for her because that way if an event doesn’t live up to expectation, she doesn’t get disappointed. Because she had no expectations to begin with. For example, she and her husband were supposed to go to the UK this Christmas just gone but the company they were booked with went bust.
I asked if she was disappointed, and she said not really, as she made a point of not looking forward to things for this very reason (they had travel insurance so at least got their money back).
I think it’s a bit of a strange way of looking at things personally. To me, anticipation can be half the fun!
This pic best expresses MY outlook …
What say you?!
iSophie says
I bet in the back of her mind she was looking forward to it. I think it would be incredibly hard to block that out. It was a shame, and it’s great she wasn’t too disappointed. But it must have been a bit of a let down. Half full or half empty, it still has the same amount of liquid in it. Shrug.
Janet says
She must have – because they’ve rebooked for next year!
Robomum says
Your pic is great!
I don’t like the idea of not looking forward to things. I agree with you that anticipation is half the fun.
Lisa says
Hi Janet, I think that is a sad way to look at life, I used to be a glass half empty girl, now with my hubby and kids, I am a glass half full girl. I believe things in life happen for a reason so we need to be positive about what happens
Janet says
Hi Lisa, yes I am mostly a positive person too xxx
Julie says
I definitely couldn’t live that way… anticipation is half the joy of a lot of life! I love day-dreaming. Glad it meant that your friend wasn’t too disappointed though. Love the idea of living in the moment.
Janet says
I practice it in reverse! If something is coming up that I’m dreading eg a dentist appointment, or an outing that I don’t really want to go on – I don’t think about it at all. Chances are it will be cancelled, and if it DOES go ahead, I’ve blocked it from my mind and haven’t let it haunt me for weeks beforehand!
Eleise says
I am with you, the anticipation is the best. I don’t think being disappointed is such a bad emotion. I would be a bit upset about missing a holiday but if you get your money back, it is no real problem, you can always book another holiday and enjoy the anticipation all over again. I do like the image your glass is always full.
Janet says
I was diagnosed with depression many years ago and one of the criteria is that you no longer look forward to anything. Maybe my friend is a bit depressed?
Rhianna says
I say I wrote something very similar to this just the other day! Great minds must think a like hey?
http://www.aparentinglife.com/2013/04/monday-bloody-monday.html
I do get the whole no expectations no disappointment thing but I think you miss out on a lot as well.
Fairy wishes and butterfly kisses lovely
Deb @ Home life simplified says
have you heard of brene brown? in her latest book she talks about that and it is called joy foreboding – you do this to avoid being vulnerable and in the process you don’t actually live a full life – it is hard to risk being disappointed but protecting yourself by not letting yourself ever get excited by positive possibilities in life is very sad
Emily @ Have a laugh on me says
I used to say, no expectations no disappointments, and to some extend I agree, but mainly with men, as in back in the day I was destroyed by so many idiots that I had to try and believe in something. However, I do now have expectations, but only of those who deserve them 🙂 xx
Twitchy says
I understand why it’s great to be positive, but I’ve had long runs of having to detach from plans or merely despair at my lack of control over them. I get it, I do, but at times you do need to protect yourself (like our horrendously expensive house build that never ends). But I’m not like that with everything and when something is working, I love it up to the full.
I do wonder how your friend assesses an experience after the fact though? Is everything just “meh”? #teamIBOT
EssentiallyJess says
I don’t think it’s possible to cut yourself off for anticipation. No matter how hard you try, humans were designed for hope. It makes me a little sad reading this.
Me says
WOW – what a sad outlook on life. For me, the anticipation and planning of an event/holiday is half the fun.
we are going away for the ANZAC day long weekend with BIL and SIL and we have been talking about it since we booked it about 3 weeks ago !!! Everytime we get together we talk about it !
Have the best week !
Me
Becc says
I can understand why she does it, but it is rather sad too. Where is the zest in life, the things that we look forward to that makes a crappy day tolerable or the excitement of things to come? For all the let downs, I think its fun to look forward to things.
Becc @ Take Charge Now
Rina says
You know what I am more like that actually..it’s not because I am lack of passion or anything (I am on fire most of the time) it’s just that I don’t let stuffs get to me. A friend hated me so much for this. She hated me because I took things so lightly and she actually told this right at my face 😀