Expectations

Expectations play an important role in the interpretation of information, as information is screened by known experience and images, distorting the new and unique aspects of what is in view. Situational awareness is also limited by the profound emotional makeup of individuals, and the process of unlearning requires discipline to override the pervasiveness of ego, fear, and self confidence. And the limitations and distortions related to ego and over confidence are the worst challenges to accurate judgment and decision making.

More than things outside our control, things that are very much within our reach are the ones which affect us the most! I learnt it the hard way today! After a long time, about 10 years, I got to play treasure hunt again. It was one of my favorite games when I was a kid and even after this long, I got a mighty adrenalin surge when I heard that we have been shortlisted for the third round, the treasure hunt. It was wonderful running around the huge MCC campus looking for hidden clues and at the same time unscrambling the phrases given to us. Unfortunately, we got chucked out at the end of it by a mere five points! And this taught me a very big lesson today.

Why should you always expect the task given to you to be the "hardest and toughest"? Why do we subconsciously assume that "nothing will be easy?" Why do we get stuck in one way once we chose that as the one? Shouldn't we accept that our decision was after all wrong and change, whatever face loss we may get, before it is too late?

Now you are wondering why I am raving about all this for losing in a simple treasure hunt? Because we thought our last clue would be the toughest and associated all kinds of answers with it other than the obvious, which of course happened to be the very one! :(