- Home
- Find a Therapist
- Topic Streams
- Get Help
Mental Health
Addiction
ADHD
Anxiety
Asperger's
Autism
Bipolar Disorder
Depression
Eating Disorders
Insomnia
OCDPersonality
Passive Aggression
Personality
ShynessPersonal Growth
Happiness
Goal Setting
Positive PsychologyRelationships
Low Sexual Desire
Relationships
SexEmotion Management
Anger
Procrastination
StressFamily Life
Adolescents
Child Development
Elder Care
Parenting
SiblingsRecently Diagnosed?
Diagnosis Dictionary
- Magazine
- Tests
- Psych Basics
- Experts
Our ideas about the way the world works are based, in part, upon our expectations. Those expectations color our experience - for good or ill - and can influence our reactions and responses to just about everything and everyone that we encounter. We can release ourselves from this self-created trap of expectation by following a few simple steps. Read More
This is a good introductory
This is a good introductory post, and I agree that these four principles are conceptually "simple," however, putting them into practice is not a simple matter. We have years of conditioning and while it's quite easy to say to someone "empty your cup," it is quite another thing to *actually* empty one's cup. Letting go of the attachments and social conditioning with which we've been programmed is not quite as easy as a turn of the wrist. Seeing with a child's eye is an easily graspable concept, but intentionally forgetting years of information, ideas, theories, experiences, and yes, expectations, is not something one can do with the snap of one's fingers.
These practices are disciplines that must be cultivated over *years* of practice. Personally, I don't see how one could possibly develop any of them without daily meditation, though I suppose that is possible. If I were making such a list, I would list that as the primary discipline, since I believe the others are at least very, very difficult to achieve without it.
But you didn't write it...
"introductory"? -- wow, talk about ego interjection. Of course these suggestions aren't easy. If they were we'd all be Zen Masters. And don't you think a Buddhist teacher is presuming some sort of introspective practice to put these ideas into action, whether it's meditation or journaling or psychotherapy?
No assumptions about the author's presumptions
In an article about not having expectations? No.
Presumption is not expectation
EOM.
Presumption is not expectation
EOM.
Please explain the difference
Please explain the difference.
The difference
An expectation is the anticipation of something based on personal experience.
A presumption is a belief based on a universally demonstrable probability.
This post was a guide, like
This post was a guide, like any other peice of literature you read regarding habits and ways of thinking. Obviously it doesn't take over night and no, you don't have to meditate every day to empty your cup. I don't meditate every day but I do stop myself and think about things I've read and had "suggested" to me, when I am in situations. Yes, it takes *years* of practice but you have to start somewhere. Some people like the guidance of articles like this because eventually the goal is to make it everyday living.
I can say, from experience, that I've turned my life around in the last 5 years. Compared to a lifetime, that's nothing.
Enjoy everyday living, even if it's an *inspiring* article, not the quick solution you were looking for.
Article makes you think > Thinking sometimes applied to situations > Eventually you rewrite your inner script > You learn to empty the cup.
Post new comment