"Pause you who read this, and think for a moment of the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns or flowers, that would never have bound you, but for the formation of the first link on one memorable day." – Charles Dickens, Great Expectations

    Expectations. They are the stuff of great literature because they are the fire that energizes much of life.

    The fully alive embrace relationships with passion & hope. The power of connection yields ecstasy & the greatest expectations. 

   "Here is the person I have always sought," you thought. Perhaps, it is a life partner, a leader, or a friend. It could be a newfound love or your very own child.

   "Mr. Chapman, would you like to meet your son," a nurse told half-asleep me one Sunday morning. In that instant a chain of gold bound us. Forty-seven years later, there he is with his son.

   Expectations flowed that first day. My son & his sister have met & exceeded my highest hopes. 

   Expect success, coaches advise. Positive thinking is good. Still, you know the wider truth. The more you expect the more disappointment & even betrayal visit you. Amid disappointment we struggle to force others in a mold of our design. 

    Remember your first day as a caregiver. "Just think what could be?" your heart asked. Years later, burnout may have scorched the edges of your expectations. 

   Dickens knew the truth. "Ask me no questions, and  you'll be told no lies," he wrote in his masterpiece of expectations raised & dashed & raised again. 

   Gladly, hope truly does spring eternal for those who live love. "One memorable day," you met someone. Amid the flowers there were thorns. But the beauty of the former tells you that love prevails for those who hold fast to their dreams. 

-Erie Chapman 

Photo: Tyler Erie Chapman with Miles Flynn Erie Chapman