FAKE IT
by Val Leichtman
The two women sat in cafe chairs across from each other staring at menus. Marline put down her menu, took her glasses from her nose and let them hang on the beaded chain around her neck, and smiled, the lines around her green eyes became more noticeable. “Well, I’m ready. I’m going to have the chicken cordon bleu. It’s going to be the best thing I’ve tasted in a long time.” A plate of cordon bleu appeared before her. She picked up her fork and took a bite. “Mmm, just as I expected.”
Jessica lifted her nose at the smell and sighed. She flipped her auburn dyed hair back behind her shoulder as she tossed her menu down with a wave of her hand. “It’s always so difficult to find something I like. Every restaurant never gets my orders right. I guess I’ll settle for the tenderloin, medium rare. But they’ll probably overcook it.” A plate appeared in front of her with a piping hot steak. She picked up her knife and fork and had to use all her might to slice a piece off the rock-hard steak. Setting the fork down without taking a bite, she sighed, “Just as I expected.”
—
Expectations are a funny thing. I’ve noticed that when I expect something to go wrong, it usually does. And when I expect something to go right, it usually does. I truly believe our thoughts influence our world around us. Bert has been teaching this concept for years (in fact, he just wrote a blog post about the power of the mind yesterday here), but I’m just now starting to see it in my own life.
The question is, how do you let go of expectations? I really don’t know if that’s possible, but it is possible to start thinking more positively and expecting good things. This isn’t easy though, at least for me. My default is to go to the negative. However, you know that saying, “Fake it till you make it”? Well, I recently heard a much better version of it: “Fake it till you believe it.” This is basically Napoleon Hill’s concept that it is possible to train your brain to think more positively through auto suggestion.
I have tried this on a small level and it does work. At a few moments when I found myself thinking incredibly negative and expecting the worst, I’ve plastered a smile on my face and visualized the best. When I allowed myself to truly believe it, I was able to change my negative state and suddenly everything started going my way.
JUN