How Can Anticipation Serve You?

Anticipation can be a double-edged sword.

One the one hand, it can be exciting, full of thrill and unknown wonder. On the other hand, it can be nerve-wracking, full of dread and unknown horror.

Anticipation is an emotional response to a situation ahead of us. As such, like all the other emotions we can feel, we can determine HOW this will feel.

Anticipation Pathwalking is about choosing for ourselves our own, individual way. It is living life to the fullest, making choices for how we will experience life. As such, part of the reason to walk a given path is in order to reach a particular goal at its conclusion.

Anticipation of that goal can help to drive us along. It can provide encouragement, it can help us to make the small choices that crop up along the way. The goal a Pathwalker sets is something that will bring them contentment, fulfillment and happiness. Anticipating that can be exciting.

Some things, however, can be deeply negative to anticipate. Confrontations, giving and receiving bad news, owning up to mistakes. Sometimes this is about anticipating how another person involved in this might react, and other times it’s about how it might effect our lives and the paths we travel.

Both aspects of anticipation can involve an increased heartbeat, breathing faster, feeling as though you might burst out of your skin at any moment. The positive is exciting, and it creates a sense of audacity. The negative is scary, and it creates a sense of anxiety.

Positive anticipation can be an amazing sensation. But the negative is one of the worst feelings we can experience.

Change may be constant and frequent, but for many it is still scary. Even when we are taking action to create change, it can still be unnerving.

Anticipation can be a liar and an opponent.

In The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho’s Alchemist says, “Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second’s encounter with God and with eternity.” That fear is a matter of anticipation.

Frequently we find ourselves in a position to do things that we might anticipate are going to be awful. We get unexpectedly called into the bosses’ office. The doctor wants to go over test results. We have to share news with someone that might cause hurt. When we fear that this is going to be awful, we can build it up to be utterly terrifying.

Yet more often than not, the concern and fear are worse than what actually happens. We are so convinced it is going to be awful and cause us or another to suffer, the anticipation of that proves to be far worse than the event itself.

I’ve done this many times myself. The challenge is to recognize it for what it is, and to work on redirecting my thoughts and feelings. If consciousness creates reality, then why would I do anything that might create something awful?

The other issue with anticipation comes from it being about a thing ahead. One of the challenging aspects of walking my own path is that in order to be aware of my thoughts, feelings and actions, it’s important to live in the now. When the now has direction to a then in the future, holding on to too much anticipation of how great it will be may keep it forever in the future.

This is a paradox that frequently comes up along the way.

Anticipation can be a helper and an ally.

When we anticipate that things ahead are good things, the excitement that this can generate can drive us. Rather than simply traverse a path to get from point ‘a’ to point ‘b’, anticipating what is to come can build up our energy. It can provide encouragement along the way.

We are all human. As such, we are going to have both good days and bad days. Even when we are striving to walk our own paths in life, there are days this is challenging. We stumble, we have a hard time meeting obligations, and we find ourselves faced with uncertainty along the way. When that happens – and it will happen – anticipation of how the achievement of reaching our goal is going to feel in the here-and-now can pull us through.

Excitement in the moment can move us along and help us to get where we want to be. I don’t know what it will be like to become a best-selling author or to teach conscious reality creation in seminars and really impact people along the way. However, I am excited to find out. I anticipate it will feel amazing, and hugely empowering. I may not be there right this moment, but anticipating what that feels like, and then feeling it now, will help to make it manifest.

At times this can be super challenging. But I believe that it is completely worthwhile. We have a choice when it comes to anticipation. Ally or opponent. I know which I would prefer.

What are you currently anticipating for yourself?

This is the three-hundred twenty-first entry in my series. These weekly posts are ideas for, and my personal experiences with, walking along the path of life. I share this journey as part of my desire to make a difference in this world along the way.

Thank you for joining me. Feel free to re-blog and share.

The first year of Pathwalking, including some expanded ideas, is available here.

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