Positive expectations

Positive expectations are a self-fulfilling prophecy- Stay in positive expectation irrespective of your present situation!!!

Expectations are extremely influential. ...  Positive expectations can lead to a more  positive life. Research has shown that optimists with  positive expectations live longer than pessimists. They have less illness, and when they get sick, they recover faster.

The power of positive expectation
We all know that positive thinking has power. If we believe it’s possible to achieve a goal or perform particularly well, we’re more likely to overcome obstacles and persevere until we achieve our goal. But what if someone else believes in us – can that make a difference, even if they don’t tell us so directly?

It seems that it can. This is best illustrated by what’s become known as the “Pygmalion Effect Study”. In 1966, Harvard professor Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson, a primary school principal in California, contacted teachers in a primary school and asked if they could administer an IQ test to all students.

The teachers, probably without even realising it, had begun to behave more positively to the “promising” students
Afterwards, although they didn’t share the test scores with teachers, they mentioned that some of the students appeared to be “intellectual bloomers” who might well start to outperform their classmates. The teachers were given the names of these supposedly promising students, who in truth had been selected at random by the researchers.

Eight months later, Rosenthal and Jacobson returned to the school and retested all the students. The results? Those they’d pointed out as “intellectual bloomers” had made larger IQ gains than had the other children. Rosenthal and Jacobson speculated that the teachers, probably without even realising it, had begun to behave more positively to the “promising” students, paying them more attention and praising their success more often. Their expectations became, in effect, a self-fulfilling prophesy. Focus on the positive, glass-half-full side of life, says Blair CREDIT:

There have been some quibbles about the methodology used in this study, but a number of other publications that followed upheld Rosenthal and Jacobson’s overall findings. It seems that what we believe about others can make a difference to the ways they behave and think. This has profound implications for all of us – as family members, in our professional capacity, and as friends.

Everyone you know will have both desirable and undesirable characteristics. However, it’s up to you which of those characteristics you choose as your focus.

If you concentrate on what you don’t like about someone, you’re likely to feel irritated when you’re around them, and to avoid them whenever you can. As a result, they’ll feel rejected and less good about themselves. This situation is likely only to get worse unless somehow, they manage to figure out whatever it is you dislike about them.

If you choose to focus on the positive qualities you find in others, then everyone wins. If on the other hand, you decide to focus on those qualities you like about that same individual, they’re likely to repeat the behaviours that gained your approval. As a result, they’ll behave more and more often in ways that please you. Furthermore, they’ll feel better about themselves because of your positive attention. As a bonus, they’ll also have less time available to devote to unappealing behaviours.
The lesson? If you choose to focus on the positive qualities you find in others, then everyone wins. You’ll have more enjoyable social experiences, and those around you are more likely to behave in ways that will enhance their attractiveness to you and, as a result, they’ll feel more likeable and self-confident.

The Power of Positive Expectation
The way I define “positive expectation” is when you are not clinging to any particular result/outcome but are trusting life’s intelligence to bring forth the most congruent and positive reality, knowing that your life force has the bigger picture. You are not imposing narrow expectations on any situation, or a person, but are open to allowing the most positive reality to come forth for you. When you are coming from this attitude you never feel “let down” because you are not hinging your expectation on anything/anyone specifically rather your expectation is for an overall positivity through trust in your life-stream’s intelligence to deliver it. This “positive expectation” from life should surpass all your mind created expectations, this way you will not be gulled by your mind into believing that something is wrong when in truth it’s just a part of the path towards the manifestation of your desired reality.
The mind can never know why an event took place, it cannot know the overall context of why something happened. When you set narrow expectations, if your expectation was for a particular outcome, and you see something completely opposite happening, it makes you feel “let down” or anxious. On the other hand, if you allow yourself to stay in a place of an open positive expectation, not creating any negative conclusion about a particular happening, you stay resistance-free and thus allow your life-stream to bring forth the reality that’s far better than what your mind had anticipated. Sometimes what seems negative to the mind is part of the unfolding process towards a more positive reality. So the attitude to have is to avoid negative conclusions and stay in a place of positive expectation under all situations – this is the most powerful way to allow well-being to constantly flow into your reality.

Avoid rigid expectations
When you stay in a place of rigid expectations, you are not vibrationally aligned with allowing your life-stream the freedom to bring forth the best possible reality for you. Your rigid expectations not only create a sense of anxiety and helplessness in you, but they also set you up for negative interpretations of what’s happening. Also, rigid expectations always come from a place of neediness/lack where you are deluded into believing that you can only feel whole if a certain outcome were to happen. Remember that your human mind does not have the big picture, and all its rigid expectations come from a place of limited perceptions.

Your life-stream is always moving in the direction of your well-being and it has the bigger picture because it’s connected with the totality. To trust in the intelligence of your life-stream to move you into a positive reality is what I call a truly positive expectation. Once you understand that the very movement of your life-stream is generated from your desires there will be no doubt in your mind that, if you don’t stand in resistance, your life force will constantly bring forth positive manifestations in the direction of your desired realities.

Some common examples of how the mind creates rigid expectations, and feels anxious and needy as a result, are as below

– Placing your expectation on “someone” to constantly behave in a manner that’s pleasing to you. This is a rigid expectation because now you are a prisoner to their behavior, and are also placing the burden of your expectations on them (causing them to feel suffocated in your presence).
– Expecting life to bring forth your desired reality only in a manner that you’ve planned out in your mind. Your mind is limited in its intelligence and hence it can never really know the actual path to your desired reality. It’s fine to plan and follow your inspirations, but don’t create any rigid expectations about how your desired reality will manifest. Allow life to surprise you.
– Placing some extra-ordinary expectations on a desired reality/experience. Life is inherently ordinary and even the most exciting experiences are fleeting/temporary, and thus, to have some extra-ordinary expectation from any desire keeps you alienated from the reality of life. A mature mind is rooted in reality, understanding that ordinariness that’s inherent to life, and finding a sense of beauty in it.

It’s natural for the mind to have expectations, and this is part of its design (these expectations are also a subset of its desires), so don’t try to resist or suppress this natural movement in the mind. However, allow yourself the space to stay open to trusting the intelligence of your life-stream to deliver an overall positive reality, without being totally identified/focused on the specific expectations of the mind (which come from its limited perceptions).

Stay in positive expectation irrespective of your present situation
It may be challenging for the mind to stay in a place of positive expectation when it finds itself in a “perceived” negative life situation. The mind being a survival machine is bound to come to some negative projection/assumptions about the situation. This is where it’s important to have a depth in your being that allows you to stay allowing of the mind’s movements without being totally identified with it. This space keeps your vibration from being totally influenced by the negativity of the mind and thus ensures the opening for your life-force to bring forth the solutions that you desire.

Don’t get into a pattern of reinforcing the negative assumptions of your mind and allow yourself the openness to stay in a place of positive expectation trusting your life-stream. The best attitude to have is to never come to a negative conclusion about any happening, rather just see everything as a step towards a more positive reality. This place of open positive expectation is a powerful state of being that keeps you in alignment with your life-stream, allowing for a swift manifestation of solutions and desired realities.

Positive expectations bring good things into my life. They are like a giant magnet that attracts a positive future. They help me live longer and better. Medical research has shown that optimists with positive expectations live longer than pessimists. They have less illness, and when they get sick, they recover faster.

Positive expectations are a self-fulfilling prophecy. When I have positive expectations, I anticipate that good things will happen. I start to think positive thoughts and take positive actions that lead to a positive life.

Negative expectations are also a self-fulfilling prophecy. They are the script for a negative future. When I have negative expectations, I anticipate that bad things will happen. I start thinking negative thoughts and taking negative actions that result in a negative life.

I don't get what I want in life; I get what I expect. Jesus said, "Ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened." I am to ask expectantly, seek expectantly, and knock expectantly. When Jesus healed people he said, "As you have believed, so it shall be done unto you." Jesus came to change our expectations. He taught that positive expectations are the foundation for a positive life.You can tell when people have positive expectations. They live as if their dreams are possible and work each day to make them happen.

Until recently, I never understood what it meant to have positive expectations. For much of my life, I regarded positive expectations as a form of internal hype where I psyched myself up into believing that my dreams were possible. Using this approach, I got on A for effort, and it did work to a certain degree. Nevertheless, I have to confess that much of the time, my positive expectations had a hollow sound as they echoed in the corridors of my mind. Eventually, I figured out that positive expectations are much more than a belief that my dreams are possible.  Positive expectations are a way of life.

Maybe it sounds like I am splitting hairs over the meaning of positive expectations, but I don't think so. Here's why. Here's what positive expectations mean to me. When I have positive expectations, I live as if my dreams are possible and work each day to make them happen. I am totally engaged in making my dreams come true. 

I spent thousands of hours working on Exit Only as we sailed around the world because I had positive expectations. I believed that if I kept her in good condition, we would have a safe and enjoyable trip.

I spent hundreds of hours getting my Extra Class ham radio license because I had positive expectations. I believed that if I had my amateur radio license, I would be able to maintain communications with family and friends while I sailed offshore.

I have Exit Only hauled out of the water and stored on dry land because I have positive expectations. I believe that before long, I will sail once again on the ocean of my dreams. I am working as a flying doctor because I have positive expectations. I know that my growing stash of freedom chips will finance my next adventure.

This list has grown very long, but I made it long on purpose. I wanted to show you that when you have positive expectations, you live as if your dreams are possible and work each day to make them happen.
Positive expectations aren't daydreaming or wishful thinking. They are all the things you do each day to make your dreams come true. They are a way of life.

People who have positive expectations are Unstoppable, Consistently Positive, Endlessly Persistent, Doers of Dreams.