Expectations
Expectations come in many forms and in many degrees.
Christmas Day is one of those days that brings with it a weight of expectations. Expectations about what one might receive; the sugar plums dancing in one’s head and heart. The day is filled with rising to joy and celebrations as gifts are unwrapped and as stories begin to unfold. It brings with it a weight of specific family traditions that define what Christmas means. The tradition of the room being filled with the smell sausage pinwheels cooking in the oven as we move from opening stockings to diving into the larger gifts. Maybe your tradition is that breakfast casserole you’ve eaten since you were a child and are now making for your own children or grandchildren. Christmas break brings with it the weight of time spent with family; days in which you expect board games to be played; lounging around in the morning enjoying conversation before the plans of the day fully unfold. Christmas Day and the days to follow are spent in a shroud of magic and the most wonderful time of the year.
Except when it’s not.
When nothing is as it has ever been before it leaves one feeling a bit out of sorts. Expectations are shattered, emotions run high and disappointment ensures. Grief for what is not surges up from places you thought were on the mend or were strong enough to withstand the weight of it all. The grief pours out in ways that you least expected and it leaves you feeling empty and just plain sad. The shattered expectations leave you isolating yourself to some degree because as hard as you tried, as hard as you worked trying to keep a semblance of normalcy for Christmas it is not the same and it has not been wonderful.
Finally the sun slowly sets and you find yourself waking to a new day that has brought with it the dawning of a new beginning, a reset and a way to move beyond the expectations of one day, to a day where the weight has lifted and a freedom to just be present; to merely be yourself arrives. Slowly but surely joy and laughter replace the mourning and grief of the day before where expectations were not met and the places they merely fell short. There is always the promise of a new beginning and a way to start fresh. One day does not define who we are, what we have to offer and the underlying joy that is available to us every moment of everyday.
Christmas Day is one of those days that brings with it a weight of expectations. Expectations about what one might receive; the sugar plums dancing in one’s head and heart. The day is filled with rising to joy and celebrations as gifts are unwrapped and as stories begin to unfold. It brings with it a weight of specific family traditions that define what Christmas means. The tradition of the room being filled with the smell sausage pinwheels cooking in the oven as we move from opening stockings to diving into the larger gifts. Maybe your tradition is that breakfast casserole you’ve eaten since you were a child and are now making for your own children or grandchildren. Christmas break brings with it the weight of time spent with family; days in which you expect board games to be played; lounging around in the morning enjoying conversation before the plans of the day fully unfold. Christmas Day and the days to follow are spent in a shroud of magic and the most wonderful time of the year.
Except when it’s not.
When nothing is as it has ever been before it leaves one feeling a bit out of sorts. Expectations are shattered, emotions run high and disappointment ensures. Grief for what is not surges up from places you thought were on the mend or were strong enough to withstand the weight of it all. The grief pours out in ways that you least expected and it leaves you feeling empty and just plain sad. The shattered expectations leave you isolating yourself to some degree because as hard as you tried, as hard as you worked trying to keep a semblance of normalcy for Christmas it is not the same and it has not been wonderful.
Finally the sun slowly sets and you find yourself waking to a new day that has brought with it the dawning of a new beginning, a reset and a way to move beyond the expectations of one day, to a day where the weight has lifted and a freedom to just be present; to merely be yourself arrives. Slowly but surely joy and laughter replace the mourning and grief of the day before where expectations were not met and the places they merely fell short. There is always the promise of a new beginning and a way to start fresh. One day does not define who we are, what we have to offer and the underlying joy that is available to us every moment of everyday.
Comments
Post a Comment