Driven by expectation and boredom

Rory is at such a sweet and lifeful age… She’s not an adolescent yet which means that she hasn’t reached the age of wanting to sleep until noon. She wakes up with the sun and immediately wants to know…

What are we gonna do today, Dad?!

Her driving internal questions are…
What now?! What’s next?! What’s exciting?!

She lives her life via a string of things to look forward to… When is she gonna hang out with that friend? When is she going to get that new thing? When are we going there? When is so and so coming to visit?

Do you remember this time of life? I do. When you counted the days and hours until that next sleepover with a friend. Or Christmas — how much longer must I wait??!!

And until that next thing happens, she’s overwhelmed with boredom. I’m so bored! Gaaaaah! I can hardly stand it!

I even see the boredom hit when she reaches the object of her desire. It’s never. Quite. As good. As it seems.

We humans seem to be driven by this… We’re fueled by expectations and hope for things that haven’t yet happened. We yearn to see things materialize. We’re propelled by it.

I look over at my dog, Dagny, a Shih Tzu Terrier. And I really don’t think she gives a shit what’s coming up until it does.

She’s not hungry until she’s… hungry.
She’s not playing in the yard until she’s… playing in the yard.