Man Proposes, God Disposes

When I reminisce, I feel having what P G Wodehouse called, “the look of one who had drunk the cup of life and found a dead beetle at the bottom”.  Don't gloss over it with a casual laugh, because life to every one, is a see-saw battle between expectations and disappointments.

We all started our journey of life on a tiny boat of hopes, not knowing where we are bound.  Caught in the winds and tides, and threatening to capsize at times, the boat kept sailing, at least until now..., and hopefully for some more time!

Without hopes, life has no desire, direction or drive.  No wonder, we find idioms like 'sky’s the limit', 'chase our dreams', 'hit the jackpot' etc. so luring.  They elevate our hopes into expectations.  That most of them are unrealistic or unachievable, seldom cross our minds.

To hope is not a crime; but expecting every single hope to materialise, is.  Not convinced?  Look at relationships.  We enter into them and nurture them with hopes.  But somewhere along the way, these hopes turn into expectations, expectations into demands, and demands into entitlements.  Naturally, when things don't happen as expected, we get upset, angry and hurt.

“Tone down your expectations”, the wise would advise, “to avoid disappointments”.  I haven't succeeded.  For me, every single hope has had an extension.  Yet, disappointing experiences one after the other, have given me the disposition to stay calm.  Whoever coined the saying: “Man proposes, God disposes”, needs to introspect.  Why blame God, for one's own weakness?

Catherine Pulsifer author of 'Inspirational Words of Wisdom' said once, “If you put in little effort and expect big returns, you will be disappointed”.  She went on to add:

 “You don't get apples by planting lemon seeds."

- Catherine Pulsifer -