Continuing along the theme of expectation, which I kickstarted yesterday, one of the things I've been thinking about, for all the right and wrong reasons pertaining to my own personal and convoluted little life, is what happens next. I mean, you expect, it doesn't happen. How do you deal with it? Surely there are different ways to get at it and all seem to involve some degree of healing. If we see it that way, then maybe we should think about ways of not letting the cut be as deep as it would otherwise be. Because the deeper it gets, the longer it takes to heal and, honestly, the more it fucking hurts. That's prophylaxis for you.

A prophylaxis is a measure taken to maintain health and prevent the spread of disease. (from Answers.com)

That's also an interesting way to look at it. As a side note, I always marvel at metaphors and how they always seem to exist for any and every subject. And they usually come straight from nature. Awesome.

In any case, it seems that we also need to differentiate between different degrees of expectation. If you expected the weather to get cold and then it doesn't, that's quite alright. Worst case scenario, you'll sweat a little and that can even be good to you. If you expected an A in your latest test and you get a B, maybe you get a little dispirited. If you expected your paycheck at the end of the month and it's not available yet, that may cause some trouble, sometimes a lot of trouble. If you expected to meet a friend but something came up and he or she didn't hesitate to forfeit your encounter, then you probably get sad, question the friendship and will think twice next time. If you're in love with someone and expect it to be mutual and then it's not, it can put your self-esteem in the gutter.

Clearly, the closer we get to the heart, the more dangerous expectation becomes. Not being heartless is however exactly one of the things that makes us human and we're not in the business of becoming inhuman here. Getting back to the point, in these extreme cases, how do we prepare? How can we avoid taking the hit straight on the chin, knocking us out cold? How can the cut be, if not superficial, at least not too deep?

Again, we're thrown into a balancing problem. How can I adjust expectation so as to believe enough in what I want but avoid getting seriously hurt if it just doesn't happen? One hell of a good question. Right now, I have no idea.