Ah, the holiday season. No matter what you celebrate (or don’t), this time of year can be full of expectations. Not that the rest of the year isn’t full of expectations but they sure do seem to magnify in the month of December.
The other day I heard the expression: “Expectancy, not expectations,” and it gave me pause. What exactly does that mean? Is there that much of a difference? I had to look up the definitions, here is what I found in the Collins Dictionary:
Expectancy: noun. Expectancy is the feeling or hope that something exciting, interesting, or good is about to happen.
Expectation: noun. Your expectations are your strong hopes or beliefs that something will happen or that you will get something that you want.
Ah, that is a big difference. The first is open-ended and the second is rather definitive and set in stone.
Having a philosophy of expectancy rather than expectations could make a world of difference even if it is just a mental shift in thinking. For me personally the last few years, I have really been working on letting go of my expectations and leaning into expectancy (but not so much I end up in “I really don’t care” land which can be easy to do).
So whether you are neck deep in tinsel and Elf On A Shelf or anxiously waiting for December 26th so the carols playing over store sound systems will JUST STOP, here’s to releasing those pesky expectations out into the wild and giving expectancy a warm embrace. Even if only for your own mental health.
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