Day # 192 - Lights

We took the girls to The Villages of Gulfstream last night to walk around and see the light show. The show consists of Christmas Trees covered in lights timed to flash on and off in sync with the artificial sounds of the Trans Siberian Orchestra. If you've never heard of TSO, they basically play Christmas Music... badly. Just kidding, it's great and wonderful, it's just a little tiring... for me. I'm old, I guess.

After spending the day cooped up in an office, I needed to be outdoors and this was just the ticket.

If you live in South Florida, you have doubtless heard the commercials for the light show. I have. I was expecting more than the three Christmas Trees I saw. Part of me was expecting my kids to be disappointed by the scope (or lack thereof) of the show. On the contrary, they were asking if we could wait an hour to see it again.

Why the difference in levels of satisfaction? Sure, the fact that they're kids makes them easier to impress, no denying that, but they only knew there was going to be a light show. They thought we were going to drive through the neighborhood, stopping in front of the houses that are lighted up. They couldn't help being impressed. I, who should know better, allowed myself to expect miracles, and so nothing could have reached my level of expectation. So was I wrong to expect so much and were the kids right to have no expectations? In some ways, we were both right and both wrong.

I am obviously stretching here, but our expectations in life should always be high. I heard the commercials for the light show and expected the gates of Heaven to open up. Why? Because that's what I wanted. All I told the kids was that we were going to see a Christmas light show. Period. They didn't know what to expect and were very pleased as a result.

In life, you must expect, and demand, excellence from yourself and other people. Will you sometimes be disappointed? Sure, but if you expect nothing and get it every time, you will not only be disappointed, you will become tired and bitter. Even when someone does more than they needed to, it won't matter, because you didn't expect anything and therefore didn't care and were not invested in the outcome. Win, lose, whatever, is not a way to live. Raise your expectations and let the people around you know. Tell them you expect the best of them, and that they should expect the best of you. This is the key to excellence and success for yourself and for those around you.

God bless you. Make it an excellent day.

- Adolfo