Imagine your life resembling a flow chart made of simple YES or NO options. Each choice along the way directs you to one of the few outcomes waiting at the end. Fixed expectations are like all these boxes with two arrows pointing us to the next step. This is how expectations can shape our lives when they have become fixed.

Fixed expectations are like signposts that predetermine the process of life. They put life in a linear process with very limited options. When an expectation is fulfilled, we get to move a little forward, or so we believe. When it is not, we try different strategies until it is fulfilled. Or we delude ourselves into believing that there is no way out. It is often with great pain and suffering that we finally admit that it is necessary to let go of that expectation, which, however, will likely be replaced by another fixed expectation.

Fixed expectations compartmentalize life into small, confined rooms with hardly any space to stretch without bumping into a wall. They cut the flow of life when we could have been riding with life in a most free and natural way. Life becomes a boring repetition of the same thing happening again and again. When life is always in the process of anticipating expectations to be met, there will be no real lasting peace, and frustration will become inevitable.

But life is not a simple flow chart. “Every moment is full of possibilities.” As much as it sounds like a cliché, it is true. We are not talking about the surprises that life throws at us. Rather, we are talking about the true potential life bears in every moment.

Where do all the possibilities come from? Not from the ever-changing external reality but from the heart and True Self. Your heart and True Self have inexhaustible creativity. This is a manifestation of their infinite potential for the growth of realization and wisdom. Without the restriction of the patterns of the consciousness, your heart and True Self don’t keep reusing the same information in a closed feedback loop. Therefore, they do not have fixed expectations. They are constantly open and able to come up with what is best in the moment; that is, most beneficial to all. Your heart and True Self can experience every moment as brand-new.

To transform the pattern of Fixed Expectation, let your heart help you. First, ask your heart “Who are your expectations serving?”

You can also count on your heart to break out of the confined space created by fixed expectations. Each of the 5 essential heart qualities can open you up to a new space. The creativity of your heart and True Self will always turn roadblocks into stepping-stones that lead to the best way out. Let your heart do its job and present the infinite possibilities that every moment offers. This is a true path to freedom.

Yuan Tze

Experience this message on Transforming Fixed Expectations as a meditation on REN XUE TV