Patience Vs. Life Is Too Short ‒ Hope Vs. Expectation – Breaking Down My Dilemma
- Sep 12, 2022
- 4 min read
Written by: Aishwarya Gopalakrishnan, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Have you ever experienced this dilemma regarding a situation or multiple instances in your life where you are at crossroads between aligning your attitude towards being patient with it or just moving on to the next thing that’s “out there”? This could be anything from your career to your home, to your relationship to your business, etc. But have you ever caught yourself wondering, “How much more time should I wait to get what I want?” or “Should I really just move on? Should I change?” or “What am I doing wrong?” Or even “Life is too short to just keep waiting. Let me do something else instead”
The past two years of my life have had multiple instances where I have questioned the above. Time and again, I questioned it. And it would frustrate me since, in some situations, you just cannot change, and in some situations, you just have to accept it for what it is. It is genuinely out of control.
When I pondered over this dilemma further and combined it with some of my learnings through spirituality, I came to observe that oftentimes, it was not the action itself that I was impatient about. It is almost always the “outcome.” Hence, indirectly, I have been trying to dictate the outcome, and if the outcome is not what I “wanted” or “expected,” I will be frustrated with this forever. It drove me crazy because sometimes, life does not give you lemons to work with. It just stagnates and does not seem to be giving anything! It just stills down, and literally, everything seems to be on hold!
That situation right there taught me some of the hardest lessons that I probably would have never come to learn otherwise. What are those? Let me share some of these in the list below:
The first – Patience in a situation does not mean being patient to receive the outcome “you want.” It means being patient enough to observe and accept the wonderful things life is offering back at you. It means being patient about figuring out the beauty of the outcome that has happened, regardless of what you “expected,” rather than fixating on your expectation
Life is too short does not mean you have to achieve “X” at a given time. We have all heard that life is not a race. But I want to emphasize another facet of this; Life is rich if you make your actions count. Hence, utilize the attitude of “Life is too short” for your actions rather than fixed outcomes. This empowers one to do more without being result driven. It is definitely about the journey & not the destination
Have hopes but do not expect them. We have heard this one, this is an important one. Hope is that beautiful state of being in complete surrender to the universe. Hope considers that there can be more than one outcome; it considers that the outcome can be different than what you “fixed” in your mind. Expectation, on the other hand, comes from the need to control & dictate what the outcome should be. We all know that the ego loves that. This is a thin line to walk on since the universe will respond to gratitude rooted in surrender but not expectations that are rooted in fear. Prayer can be a powerful practice of asking the universe what you hope for.
Action X does not Equal Outcome Y – This is one of the biggest lessons I have learned. Just because you want Y and in your own head you think doing X will get you, that does not mean you will. Everything is a 50% chance. Hence, the nicer way to live would probably be to ensure you enjoy doing the X without any thought to the outcome. Of course, the actions could be guided by your inner conscience, your heart, or even values & principles close to your heart, such as yogic principles. But that is an article for another day. To summarize, perform an action for action’s own sake. But be prepared for all possible outcomes. And, of course, hope for the very best!
These lessons not only made my life better. But somehow, they have empowered me to enjoy life doing what I love rather than setting outcome goals that I used to. Now, I only set action goals that are more on “what to do” rather than “Y will happen if I do what I do.”
This made me happier and helped solve my dilemma. Life is a journey, so I will probably add it to this list, but for now, if you too are in the same boat or situation, 😊 I hope this helps you too.
Aishwarya Gopalakrishnan, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Aishwarya is a blogger who is passionate about yoga, meditation, sustainability and spirituality. She is an avid yoga & mindfulness practitioner who is also certified in the two respectively. She believes in living a holistic lifestyle & strives to incorporate elements rooted in ancient principles such as ayurveda, yoga, mindfulness & living a sustainable lifestyle. She is passionate about sharing her knowledge through her blogs. She is currently working towards her passion project that is aimed at creating an atmosphere for seekers & yoga practitioners alike. She hopes to bring this to the community very soon. She is an MBA, with an engineering undergrad who is a management consultant by profession.
