The Sin called Expectation

They say we need a support system in life to satisfy our need for belongingness. That one of the greatest motivators to perform is our need to earn our place next to the person on whom the drive to pin ourselves is most compelling. And for that we channelize all our strength and energy to overcome insurmountable challenges to justify our proximity to our idol.

Then how do we cope up with the disappointment of being let down by that one person whom we looked up to give direction to our own life? With the despair of knowing that the person we had firmly cemented on our proverbial pedestal, far above the level we place our own selves, is flawed? How do we get over the feeling of being lost and left bereft, and how do we ever again look at that person in the eye? Most importantly, after having done everything in our power to become the image of our holy deity, where do we find the strength to stabilize ourselves when dejected in the face of wasted efforts and a lost path? How, after that, do you look into your own eyes?

The answer is, you don't. You just pick up the pieces of a broken belief and turn away. You walk in the opposite direction, distancing yourself from the person as fast as you can. Not because the person has failed you. But contrarily, because it's time you understood the gravity of the transgressions you've committed against him; the tremendous pressure and unjustified baggage that you have, quite unceremoniously, forced upon him. As such it is hardly logical to blame the person for a sin that is not his but yours.

Remember that the blame for the entire gamut of unfulfilled expectations rests unto us. And in the end, for an outcome gone awry, it's your cross which you must carry alone.