Go ahead. By the looks of me… go ahead and ask….
Are you expecting?
Well, as a matter of fact I am.
I am always expecting. I am so full of expectations. About so many things in so many ways. I’ve always known this way. At least… as long as I can remember. As a kid…always waiting for the big great surprise.
A great example here today. I don’t each much meat anymore. Fish is mostly my “meat” intake, if any. However, I used to be quite the Carnivore, and for much of my life, I was on “The Quest” to find the best burger in all the world. I gave it a great run, too.
But still… from time to time… I like to have a hamburger. Me and Wimpy. If I am going to eat any meat, that would probably be my “Go-To” Fix. So tonight, Mary & I invited our two oldest grandkids out for dinner. To Red Robin.
It has been my favorite “chain” place to get a burger. For a long time. So this evening… we made the drive down to West Chester for dinner. I was getting worked up about it… during the entire one hour trek. High expectations were churning away.
And right now…. as I think about it… dinner was actually pretty wonderful. I got to spend beautiful time, with Mary and Haylee and Levi.
But my burger sucked. It was the worst Red Robin burger I’ve ever had. Dried up. No Guacamole on my Guacamole Burger. Just a real disappointment.
So there are the two sides of the evening. The part that was lacking, was the part I had high, high hopes for.
Life keeps trying to teach me lessons. Again tonight, I was reminded about expectations. Our “wants”… our “expectations” can be endless. In some cases they can consume us… or make us miserable.
We all have them, from time to time. But here is the thing. Our “needs” are much different than our “wants,” generally speaking. Our absolute needs in life are much smaller than we realize.
Most of the time, our needs are met.
So tonight, the fact of the matter is… I didn’t need a great, yummy, decadent hamburger… dripping with cheese, mayo, guacamole, and all the works. (Drool, drool.) In fact, I didn’t really “NEED” any food at all tonight. My body would have kept working just fine without any thing at all.
But I put a lot of value on what I “wanted” that experience to be.
The most important part, was almost overshadowed by the disappointment with the meal. But at the end of the night, I was very happy, and felt very blessed. As I mentioned, I shared time with people who mean a lot to me.
And that, is the icing on the cake …. the sprinkles on top …. the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
And that Red, Red, Robin…. goes bob-bob-bobbing along. A long.