Expect more from yourself than from others

One winter night, a king was taking a stroll outside his palace. He went around the capital to see how the life of the people was and, on his way, back to the palace he saw an old man at the entrance of the palace. The king went closer to the man and asked the man if he needed something. The old man said he had just come to see the king and did not need anything.

The king then noticed that the old man was not properly covered to take the cold. The king was so surprised to see how the old man was able to keep up in that cold weather even in those clothes. So, he asked the old man, “Aren’t you feeling cold?”

The old man smiled and replied, “I am feeling cold but what to do? I don’t have any warm clothes to wear. For many years, I have been living like this only and have got used to the cold weather without any warm clothes. God gives me the strength to bear this and live through the winter time.”

The king felt very sad for the old man and said, “Don’t worry! Please wait here and I will send one of my soldiers with warm clothes for you.”

The old man felt very happy and thanked the king for his kindness. As soon as the king went into the palace, he got busy with some other urgent tasks and forgot about his promise to the old man. The next morning a few soldiers saw a cold-stricken body of an old man. The soldiers went on to inquire with the villagers as to how the old man had died. A few neighbours told them that the old man was wearing thin clothes all his life even during cold weather. But last night, when the king promised to give him the warm clothes, he suddenly started to shiver in the cold and died in expectation of warm clothes. He could no longer bear the cold due to his expectation of the warm clothes from the king.

Peace begins when expectation ends: Simple things in life becomes complicated when you start to expect too much. Assumptions and expectations are the two most powerful weapons that can complicate or kill any relation, no matter how strong they are.

Expect more from yourself than from others: High expectations can have a positive impact such that they allow you to stretch and attempt beyond what you think your limitations are. But don’t let failures be a reason to criticise yourself or those around you and create pain.

The best way to avoid disappointments is not to expect anything from anyone: When you don’t have high expectations from others, there is less chance of you being disappointed. The lesser the expectations you have of others, the lesser the disappointment to you.