Diminished expectations are the devil’s tool by which he controls people. Does this sound far-fetched? Just think about the things you haven’t attempted to do in your life. Why haven’t you moved forward with some of your ideas, plans or events? I’ll tell you why, fear, that’s why. Our drive to excel, create, and thrive are diminished when our expectations are not mastered and used in a mindful manner. When our expectations are seated in fear, it causes hesitation, procrastination, and eventually stops us from moving forward. Fear is the culprit that destroys creativity and expectations are what drive our creative juices. Fear kills our passion, self-worth, and confidence. Whatever has caused fear in you also has control over you. We are subjected to diminished expectations in many ways by parents, teachers, advertisers, religions and most of all governments, which can cause us to feel fear. This type of behavior, which is used to control a group of people, is what I call “collective diminished expectations” and it has been used throughout history. If you can control the drive to thrive in the population, you have gained the upper hand and control; it becomes just a matter of time for the control to materialize. It is happening every day in our lives. Well-intentioned people have succumbed without even realizing it. Our expectations are lowered in such minute increments that we don’t even realize it is happening. This is how we are literally killing our nation! If we don’t get a handle on this our expectations will be driven into the ground and we will fall as every great society has in the past. When compliancy eases its way into our daily lives and we expect others to do what we should be doing we are under the control of collective diminished expectations. The great question that arises is how do we circumvent the spell we are under? The answer is very obvious if you think about it. Literally. Anytime we need to make a change in our behavior we must first identify the issue we want to change. The second tool I like to use is mindfulness. This involves bringing awareness to every point you have identified and keeping it in the forefront of your daily thoughts and habits thus focusing on the correct path for change. Keep doing this until it becomes an unconscious behavior repeating itself without you ever being aware you have changed it. I have completely changed my eating habits in the past few months using this method. It all started after I read a book by Dr. Mark Hymen called The 10 Day Sugar Detox. His book is a great eye-opener on how addicted we are to sugars and caffeine. I decided once and for all I was going to change and change I have! I have cut out all caffeinated drinks, all flours, all sugars, and most fruits. I eat mainly some organic meat, certain fish, and certain vegetables. I have lost approximately 40 pounds in the last three and a half months and am not hungry most of the time. An important point to make is that I did it myself and changed my addicted eating habits using the process I explained above. My health and wellbeing are more important to me than satisfying my addiction to food. We all have the tools and ability to make the change we want. We have to invoke the expectation that we can and believe with faith that we can institute the change we desire for the betterment of our lives and our families lives. There are no short cuts or simple ways to create the life you desire. You have to want and believe it is possible and probable for you to have control of your chosen path. Effort drives success in all aspects of life. When we let the devil use his tool of fear over us then we lose control of our destiny and our path to happiness.
