Plan for the best, expect the worst.
That is a piece of advice that I’ve heard for years. By years, I can remember it from before my teens and I’m sure it influenced elements of my approach to things. There was a gnawing sense that bad things could happen and so as to avoid disappointment there was something drilled into me that there’s no point in getting hung up on believing the best outcomes would take place. Over time and with ongoing practice it became the norm.
There’s a song by Paul Simon called Something So Right and that song relays a character who has got so used to being blamed when things go wrong that he can’t get used to something good happening in a relationship. I used to listen to that song and could relate a lot to that sentiment. Indeed, I can empathise with others who likewise are somewhat accustomed to being the problem.
There’s something about the thinking of preparing for the best and expecting the worst, though. It’s tiring. Good things happen and it’s as though the surprise of it working out is such that you quickly have to revert to expecting the worst. Preparing for the best is more about doing your best, putting the best effort in. If you genuinely prepare for the best, it shouldn’t come as a surprise when it happens. If you genuinely prepare for the best and it arrives there should be joy and delight at it because it’s a lovely thing when a plan comes together.
That desire to avoid disappointment by expecting the worst is not all that it’s cracked up to be. It’s useful on occasion – the reality is that bad things will happen. Yet there is something about hope that leads you not to be idealistic or a perfectionist or even having the ‘glass half full’ mentality. Hope truly assists the desire to prepare for the best by giving a sight of that which can come. It’s what keeps us expectant even when bad things happen, as opposed to be surprised by goodness.
That’s not to say there’s no room for surprises, it’s just to say that hope is the motivation to keep preparing for the best and expecting it.
(Photo by Sven Mieke on Unsplash)
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
Life With CD 