Expectations are a double-edged sword.

A sword that can proliferate intensity and a sharpening of determination as well as be a deadly weapon. It can be used to cross a battlefield in a fury of strokes and swiftness coupled with some agile maneuvering. This lethal weapon can allow a person to defy the odds and cross a war zone of metal and chaos and come out unscathed on the other side. And when that person looks back onto the battlefield they have just conquered, they have their mighty blade to thank for their survival.

Yet, in Japanese culture, a sword was a way to die honorably. A way to end one’s life in the most proper way on the battlefield. One was expected, after all hope was lost, to go by the hands of their blade instead of one wielded by an adversary. This expectation was followed almost invariably, making swords an ironic duality. They can cause a person’s own death or aid in their survival. This juxtaposition accounts for the good and the bad. The triumph and defeat of the battlefield, all depending on the use of the sword. This double-edged nature of the sword works just as expectations do in life: there is an honorable purpose, and yet also a commonly misused functionality. The question is, which side of the sword will you use?

Expectations, even with the negative reputation they’ve come to have, aren’t necessarily a bad thing. For one, they allow a person to have a goal. Something they can wake up and strive to get closer to each and every day. This attainable and tangible target is the drive that is often needed to push a person in the right direction. Why do you think people hang a donut in front of them when they run on a treadmill? Motivation and a tangible goal. It makes it easier to picture the reward when what’s expected is clearly stated. Another advantage of expectations is the reassurance that there are people who believe in you. Whether it’s an expectation set upon oneself or offered up by another person, someone believes that that goal is accomplishable. Plainly put, the belief of another person is often enough strength for one to push toward their goal and reach their expectation. Expectations are a driving factor of success.

Or are they? The root of the word is expect. Not a term of joy or excitement after something is achieved, but of contentment. It would cause more powerful feelings to disappoint and fall short of the expectation then to accomplish it. It’s not something that one can really receive praise for because it was expected in the first place. The tough part about expectations is that they can only let a person down. They’re similar to goal, but without the overwhelming enthusiasm of its completion. Expectations can only lead to more expectations, until finally there is a task so arduous that it can’t be fulfilled. The melancholy truth of expectations is the cycle which can only be broken apart by failure. Not fulfillment, but a sad ending to what should be seen as great achievements. And if that’s not bad enough, there’s all the stress and pressure that comes with being expected to do something. To be something not by choice but by “strong encouragement.” At what point is encouragement just a cover for all the ailments it brings? Stress is what drives a person not to greatness, but to timidity and conformity. Pressure causes a person to fall apart, not to strive. These things are not derived from goals of success, they are deterrents from ever reaching the very same expectations that are placed on a person. Expectations are a driving factor of failure.

So which is the truth? The drive to fulfill greatness or failure? The answer is both and neither. Both options are equally attainable, and yet neither is the answer by itself. Expectations are what you make of them. Every person comes to their own decision about whether they will wither away in self pity, or if they will rise to each occasion with the support of the ones who expect greatness from them. Will expectations be a weapon of destruction for you? Will they help to destroy everything in your path on the way to your goal, or will you die by your own sword, falling to the stress and pressure of carrying such a powerful instrument. Ultimately, the decision is yours whether expectations will drive you to do great things or drive you into self-induced madness destined for failure. So, will you stand in triumph, sword held high as you look across the battlefield you just conquered, or will you be one of the men laying on the ground, without hope, subjecting himself to his own sword? Which side of that double-edged sword will you wield, because both are in your hands.