This week I chatted a little about some expectations I had for a couple of drinks I’ve had before. With one, I had high expectations that were not met, and with the other I had low expectations that were exceeded. It got me thinking a lot about expectations, and why they are so often not met, whether the overall belief is for a positive or negative outcome.
When I look back on times when I felt like my expectations were being exceeded, what I’ve realised I was actually feeling was anticipation. Anticipation by definition is a feeling of excitement about something that is going to happen in the near future whereas expectation is defined as a strong belief that something will happen or be the case.
I love anticipation. I love looking forward to events or moments and often find that I get more joy out of that period of anticipation than the actual event. That’s not to say I am ever disappointed by the event, only that the anticipation enhanced my overall experience.
I came across this quote from The Coach & Mentor Group on this exact topic and I think it sums it up exactly:
What’s the difference between anticipation and expectation? The difference is in our attitude. One is hope and one is entitlement. Hope allows for any number of things to happen. Hope keeps us open to possibilities we couldn’t even imagine. Entitlement usually has a very specific outcome. It relies on other people to react and behave in the way we want them to.
Knowing that we can control outcomes through our attitude is liberating. Moving forward, I’m going to keep my hope alive with anticipation, but I’m not going to expect anything in return, and I invite you to do the same.
Cass xox
What we’ve been drinking lately
Wildflower Brewing & Blending Solera Australian Wild Ale, Pull #4 Feb 2019
Wildflower Brewing and Blending Hallertau Blanc Farmhouse Ale Saison (Terri)
2018 Garage Project Devil’s Punch Bowl Sour Nat, Wellington, NZ (Terri)
2018 Le Timbre Space Quartet No.3 Pinot Noir, Sunbury, VIC (Terri)
Unico Zelo Esoterico & Truffle Hound order (Terri)
2018 The Other Right All Fruits Ripe Pinot Noir, Adelaide Hills SA (Cass)
Where we’ve been drinking lately
Hop Nation Brewery, Footscray
What we’ve been watching/reading/listening to
The Cut on Tuesdays podcast (Cass)
Where Should We Begin with Esther Perel podcast (Cass)
Stranger Things on Netflix (Terri)
Still a bit confused by this whole Solera winemaking technique we talked about this week? Check out this explainer from WineMaker for more information and have a read of Wildflower’s blog post all about Pull #4 of their Solera Australian Wild Ale.