Expecter Gadget

Time to check in about expectations...this is something I wrote in my Aspiration Statement, before I set foot in Bulgaria. It's often helpful to look back on it when things feel overwhelming or uncertain. I would invite anyone reading this to check in to your own psyche and see what expectations you hold at this time in your life. What are your strategies for dealing with the rough places and the inherent uncertainty in human life?

Something I've realized about expectations, as I go through life, is that they're often wrong. I've learned to expect that my expectations be shattered sometimes. Nevertheless, it is helpful to look forward and anticipate what an experience may be like in order to prepare for it. So, I write these expectations as a flexible model which is open to change and mold itself differently as new experiences come in.
I expect that there will be challenges. I expect that my view of a situation or reality may not be the same as the people I'm working with. I expect myself to listen, to honor differences, and learn from them as much as possible. I expect that openness, curiosity, flexibility, and a healthy sense of humor can go a long way in working with whatever challenges present themselves. I expect that situations may be overwhelming at times and that working with the present moment and whatever is up in the present moment can help to ease the sense of overwhelm. I expect that feelings of hopelessness may arise sometimes, when working with tough situations. I expect myself to stick with the experience in order to find out what's on the other side of hopelessness. It seems that sometimes amazing transformation and opportunity is waiting just on the other side of bleak despair.
I expect that I really don't know what to expect right now since I don't know the specifics of the assignment I'll be working with. Yet, I expect myself to work with whatever arises as best as I possibly can, to forgive myself and others for the human limitations we're all subject to, to learn as much as I possibly can from all situations, to always look for the light in the bleakness, and to take the manure of human experience and turn it into fertilizer for transformation and positive growth. I expect to do my best to focus on the one thing I have control over, regardless of what's going on around me...my attitude and the perspective I bring to a situation.


These few weeks have been absolutely amazing, in terms of making connections and experiencing new things. At the same time, it's easy to feel overwhelmed when faced with: learning Turkish, conducting youth group activities in Krichim, meeting with youth leaders in the region, getting together with our bigger group of BG-18s (all 50 of us), visiting family in Sofia, participating in the wild, wonderful parties (filled with delicious food, belly dancing, limbo, etc.) that our host families put on, and getting together as a PC group in Krichim to support each other, study together, etc. My strategy for coping with it all is to, first of all, stop, drop, and breathe. Then, to remember to trust the process of life itself, even when I have no idea what's going on or where it might be taking me.

As somebody wise once said: "You're only here for a short while...don't hurry, don't worry, and be sure to stop and smell the flowers along the way." As somebody else once said, "The secret to success is to turn the stumbling blocks in your life into stepping stones."

If you have any inspiring thoughts or sayings, feel free to share them in the comments section...everyone can use a 'picker-upper' every once in a while.