Expectations vs. Reality

It's never what you think it is. I decree that there are four categories to this. Sometimes it's frustrating, sometimes it's happy, sometimes it's sad, and sometimes it's downright hilarious.

The first one is frustrating. This expectation vs. reality leaves you disappointed, sometimes mad, and occasionally wanting to punch someone. Like when I was waiting at a stop sign to turn right. There was a car coming from my left, and I was waiting for it when it put on it's turn signal to turn right. Expectation: this car is going to make a right turn into the street I'm coming out of, and not go past me. It's okay to go. Reality: the car was actually making a right turn into the driveway just barely past the intersection. Result: I pulled out in front of them, the lady honked and waved her fist at me. And to make matters worse, my truck was in slush and I wasn't in four wheel drive so my tires spun out and everyone in a two block radius thinks I'm a bad driver. Not like that's anything new.

The second one is happy. This expectation vs. reality brings me joy. This is the expectation where you're going to fail a test and you get an A. The expectation where you try to cook something edible and it's delicious. The one where you think you won't be able to sleep and you sleep like a rock. Where you forget to do your homework and the teacher extends the date. The result of these situations are always the same: the feeling of happiness and joy and feeling like you're cooler than Batman.

The third one is sadness. This expectation vs. reality is practically the polar opposite of the happy category. You think you're going to ace a test and you utterly fail it. Your cooking burns and your roommates declare it a health violation. You are so tired and you toss and turn and don't sleep until right before your stupid alarm goes off. You go to class and everyone is turning in their homework and you never knew you had an assignment in the first place. The result of these scenarios can be described as lonely, sad, depressing, and you know how much of a failure you really are.

The fourth category of expectations vs. realities is my favorite. The ones that turn out to be downright hilarious. I have many examples for these. The most recent one is when I went sledding down Old Main in the dark last night. I was standing at the top of the hill looking down the hill at the sled tracks that other people had made. Expectation: this is gonna be awesome. Reality: someone had built a little sled jump on the track and I didn't see it till I was almost to it and as I couldn't steer away, I hit it, my sled went into the air (with me on it) and I almost didn't make the landing because I was laughing so hard. Another sledding expectation vs. reality that turned out really funny was when I noticed sled tracks on the stairs and decided I would have a go sledding down the stairs. Expectation: this is gonna hurt. Reality: it really did hurt but it was SO FUNNY sledding down stairs and then watching my roommate do it. I laughed so hard I almost cried.

So in conclusion, expectations sometimes exceed realities. Realities sometimes exceed expectations. Sometimes you wish you had a video camera. Other times you wish it had never happened.

But I expect it's all part of life.