expectation isn't the same as desire

Some people strive to relinquish all expectations and live moment to moment. That is admirable. But I think the important idea here is to take responsibility for our expectations. Get them out into the light. Examine them. Talk about them. If they involve other people, talk to the people involved. Find out if they have similar expectations. See if they’re realistic.

Hope is itself a species of happiness, and, perhaps, the chief happiness which this world affords: but, like all other pleasures immoderately enjoyed, the excesses of hope must be expiated by pain; and expectations improperly indulged must end in disappointment. If it be asked, what is the improper expectation which it is dangerous to indulge, experience will quickly answer, that it is such expectation as is dictated not by reason, but by desire; expectation raised, not by the common occurrences of life, but by the wants of the expectant; an expectation that requires the common course of things to be changed, and the general rules of action to be broken.

to hope was to expect

Anticipate, but don't expect.

Anticipation: You're excited for what the future holds, but you don't try to control it.

Expectation: You try to predict the future and restrict your happiness to one outcome.

Always be excited about the possibilities. Never be entitled to them.

Expectations are what destroy happiness — whether it’s in our relationships, with our kids, or with our work. Expectations are why so many people are so unhappy today, even in a world with so much abundance.

We all will have expectations about how life is supposed to be and how people are supposed to be. But we can’t control the way that others act or whether they meet your expectations. So when we hold on to those expectations and they’re not met we create pain.

What we can control is how we respond. We can choose to let go of expectation and open ourselves to something new.

we need to realize these are only expectations; they belong to us, and we’re not always boss.

Always expecting this and expecting that. May I recommend serenity to you? A life that is burdened with expectations is a heavy life. Its fruit is sorrow and disappointment. Learn to be one with the joy of the moment.

Expectations are resentments under construction.

When you're in the middle of the work, set your expectations high. It's unlikely your performance will exceed the standard you set for yourself. High expectations encourage you to keep reaching and fulfill your potential.

Once the work is done, release yourself from your expectations. The fastest way to ruin a good outcome is to tell yourself that it's not good enough. Your expectations dictate your happiness more than your results.

Expectations can be helpful as a motivator and unhelpful as a measuring stick. Now that the work is done you can rest easy knowing you tried your best. You've already won.

When each moment becomes an expectation life is deprived of fulfillment, and death is dreaded for it seems that here expectation must come to an end.

As Anne Lamott said, “Expectations are resentments waiting to happen.” We have the tendency to visualize an entire scenario or conversation or outcome, and when things don’t go the way we’d imagined, disappointment can become resentment. This often happens when our expectations are based on outcomes we can’t control, like what other people think, what they feel, or how they’re going to react.

An intense anticipation itself transforms possibility into reality; our desires being often but precursors of the things which we are capable of performing.