It won't always be rainbows.
It won't always be rain, either, so let's not start off by stepping in fud (or mud, given that we're standing at the base of one of the most famous waterfalls in Iceland.) This idea of none or the other is something I've been finding intersects on all planes of my life as of late — as a positive person, I embrace the existence of hardship and pain for the added perspective they bring, and know that not everything can be solved with faith just as keenly as sometimes things will resolve if left well enough alone. Perspective is a hell of a drug, and a tool that can be used to bolster positivity or grow the dark places within us into roiling maelstroms. We expect things based on our perspective, instead of informing our perspective of our expectations.
Why can't you just post beautiful pictures without rambling philosophical tracts?
Truthfully, I really don't know. The pictures I take as I roam around the world are my stores of value. They correlate to ideas and memories and perspectives and desires separate from the physical experience. I can rarely pull them up and work with them without being sent on a crazy tangent that is maybe connected in a way that only I tenuously understand. I bring them here to show you, and in the process all of my riches come tumbling out; you end up with all sorts of personal stories, random of chunks of my brain (gross, sorry) and if we're all lucky, perhaps some useful advice.
Focus... rainbows.
I want you to think about, and work on, your expectations. This is not just a blockchain crypto market blogging networking thing — I'm talking about your work, your relationships, your emotions, your dreams; the basic tool set that you craft your life with. Do you believe the world owes you nothing but rainbows? Are you in a place where you feel that anything you do will leave you standing alone in the pouring rain? Sometimes we lose track of our expectations even as they control us, which means we fall out of touch with the ability they have to help us be better overall... and to harm us. I talk about this a lot on my Steem community radio shows, but I want to leave some key points here for you to think about. I find they help me when I'm piling it on too thick or not supporting myself enough. Sometimes, I think about them while standing in double rainbows that arc across my vision and drench me in prismatic mist. And sometimes, I think about them late at night, curled in a blanket in front of the harsh light of my monitor, willing my eyes to stay open just a little longer and hating myself when they do.
Your expectations of yourself should be high enough to motivate you when you're stagnating. It's okay, and important, to be the one who cares enough to kick your own ass to try harder.
Your expectations of yourself should be flexible enough that you don't burn yourself out trying to meet the impossible, and that you can step back, practice self care, and be proud of what you accomplish when you are trying without hating on yourself.
Your expectations of the things you cannot control, like the world and people around you, should be logical. Temper faith with reason, acknowledge that the ride will never be free, know that you need to want it, prove it, and make it happen, and don't get caught up in the frustration and sadness that comes when you feel like others are to blame for things not going the way you want. (Easier typed than done, trust, I know.)
Your expectations should inform your perspective, and not the other way around. At the very least, give it a shot and see how the change works for you. Instead of a bad mood creating negative expectations, or a giddy high creating expectations perched on pedestals just waiting for a crushing collapse, focus on a set of balanced expectations that hold up from every perspective. Because you're human — your perspective will change a lot.
Does it sound preachy? Probably. (Sorry.) As I flip back through these shimmery, ephemeral views of Skógafoss, I realize that a large portion of the improvements I've made in my life over the last few years has revolved around my taking better control of my expectations. My expectations for myself and what I was capable of in Iceland were exactly what I needed them to be; my expectations for the country itself, the same — the push that no one can give me but me, and the reining in that I won't accept from anyone else. It's played into my work, my travel, my relationships, the way that I look at myself, and even the way that I interact with the chain. There might not be rainbows all the time, but I've found I'm more okay with that than I first thought.
These photos and words are my own work, inspired by travels all over this pretty blue marble of ours. I hope you like them. 🌶️
