We choose to assume that the objects we chance upon will fulfill some want or desire. It is doubtful that such a mental state is very wholesome. That is because with expectancy, there is the development of the hope for gain or reward. We might question why such a thing is detrimental to our wellbeing. However, when we hope, we prepare our mind and body for the engagement of our senses with what is ultimately perishable and inconstant. Thus, we facilitate the interplay of limitation and sensitivity. With each passing moment the strength and intensity of this interplay develops and we fall prey to the vicissitudes of not only our mind and body but our environment as well as circumstance.
Does this mean that we ought not to look forward to anything. Not really. It means that we instill reliance on less rather than more. With such an emphasis, whatever we have acquires new meaning and enhanced value and the need for acquiring more and more gradually wanes. The outlook that we must acquire what we think we desire and remove what might be unattractive or unwanted goes against the truism that nothing whatsoever is lastingly satisfying. With the cessation of hope, there might come the cessation of fear and we can judiciously come to terms with inevitable loss and erosion.
Is such a mindset despondent? Not if we seek to be free of the entrapment brought about by expectancy and dependency. If we realize that we actually inhabit a ground that is limiting, we can work towards developing the wherewithal for solace and strength irrespective of endowments. When we don’t hope for much, there comes an appreciation of design that could be far bigger than our petty machinations and with such recognition we stand the chance of becoming more accepting, more tolerant and hence more capable of negotiating what is pleasant as well as what might be distressing.