Why you should stop expecting the unexpected

How to stop being disappointed all the time.

Jarid Altmark
6 min readJan 27, 2022

What remains to be false is that you can expect how someone feels, reacts, unless they’re a character in a TV show or the verbatim description in your astrology textbook. We expect so much from so many things, some that haven’t even earned our trust. We put faith into these expectations, but sadly when our expectations don’t match reality we tend to feel disappointment.

When you define your expectations, wants and desires based on external forces, you are giving up control. In other words who you follow on toxic scrolly advertising tools or who you call “bestie” are choices you make, but how they affect you is out of your control. Everything and everyone is out of your control, despite the illusion of customizability and curation we expect from our material objects. For example, you may pickup a beautiful orchid from Trader Joe’s. When you bring it home, it suddenly dies. Beyond it’s looks, it’s damaged roots were out of your control. Or for example, if a perfectly unsuspicious and delicious street gyro unexpectedly gives you food poisoning you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy. Our expectations blind us from reality and shield us from real control.

Our underlying expectations stop us from living presently, putting ourselves out there, and…

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Jarid Altmark

Artist, Writer, 4x Food Network Competitor, Professional Cake Artist and Practical Overthinker.