great expectations

When I was in high school, I had to read Charles Dickens. When one is 15, it seems like this is more of an imposition than anything else. While other English classes read things such as "Go Ask Alice," I was reading "Great Expectations."

 Fast Forward to 2011: I am now 48 and it is amazing how that story sticks in my mind! It is the story of a boy named Pip who learns, through trial and error, that life doesn't always give you what you want or expect. In fact, the moral is, "if you expect nothing, you won't be disappointed." I grew up poor and though I had wishes and desires, I learned that, just like the novel, if you expect nothing, you won't be too disappointed. But still, that inner longing gnawed at me. I look around me now. This world seems so intent on it's own endeavors. Politicians just look after themselves and will do whatever it takes to maintain their position of power. Those with money are no different from the nobility class of old; they lord that wealth over the weaker class. The lower class works to maintain the status quo of the upper class as well as their own families. It seems to be a vicious circle. It seems that my musings about doing good for others falls on deaf ears.

I hope, as this year draws to a close, that those of you who have read these blogs have taken away something from them. To do for another, we need to let go of something for ourselves. In the process, though, something beautiful happens: we gain so much more than we ...well, expected! The one we have helped is also benefited! It's a win-win situation that can only expand and grow and soon...we have a world where great expectations become just that--GREAT! wow...boggles MY mind, how about YOU?? Ready to put it to the test? Then...let's go...seek...find...give...love...and watch the miracles that happen!