Community:Church of the Dark Star/Sermons/20160116 Balance Expectations

"Expectations", from the perspective of the Balance Belief, presented by Winfield

Hail everyone! I'm Winfield, the Governor of PaxLair. It's great to be here! I thank Amber Raine for the opportunity to come forward as a speaker to talk about Balance.

Today's topic of Expectations brings to my mind many ideas for using a balanced approach. Yet first, what is balance?

By common definition it is - an even distribution of weight enabling someone or something to remain upright and steady. or - a condition in which different elements are equal or in the correct proportions. We are talking more about the second definition.

There are some typical characteristics of being balanced and phrases that may be used. Such as... being steady, staying on course, seeing both sides of the fence, on the fence, assessing pros versus cons. Being balanced is simply an approach to situations and life.

However, one should not always be balanced! Oh my gosh, did I just say that? One should sway to one side or the other in times of crisis or need. Yet, returning to balance can be a good thing where we can relax, and see both sides once again.

There can be Balance between Chaos and Order too. It can mean we take the best of Chaos and Order, combine them, and come out with new attitudes and solutions ... that we may have missed if we lived solely in Chaos or Order.

So what about Expectations and Balance?

Well, what is an expectation? It is a strong belief that something will happen or be the case in the future. In other words, you expect something to happen. Why you expect something, well that is up to your own problem and situation.

We've heard things like Expectation Management which sometimes means "don't get your hopes up too high". A balanced approach to expectations is to first ... have some! You may create them chaotically or orderly. Yet once you have an expectation, don't just leave it. A balanced approach is adapt it as things change.

Let's say you were in a chaotic mood one day, thinking of how life could be or not be or might be or isn't or is ... and you came up with an expectation that felt good. Say, you want to be a great fighter in this realm! Yes, that's great!

Now, you might want to manage that expectation a bit by orderly looking at it, coming up with a plan to get there, and even realize it may take a lot longer and more work than you originally thought.

So your balanced approach to your expectation is first ... create one ... then look at it from another approach. Let's create an expectation from the other side now.

If you systematically came up with a new expectation in an orderly manner, like I can be a great fighter following this path ... and my guild mates will help me, and I have allotted a certain amount of time ... I expect to be a great fighter on such and such day with XYZ capabilities.

Oh, now take a balanced approach on that expectation while you were thinking orderly. Throw some chaos into the mix ... what if your guild mates left you out to dry? What if you realized you needed to get food to gain strength to be a fighter? Now, your orderly expectation is not so orderly.

Taking a balanced approach means to look at things from both sides. But don't just stay in the middle, our you may never go anywhere. Expectations are great to have, wonderful to get excited about, and can be disappointing when not achieved. Take a balanced approach, adjust your expectations, even test them to see if you still want that expectation any longer. Think chaotically and orderly when you need to, but come back to balance when you can.

Thank you all once again for letting me speak here today. Dragonspeed.