Extra Ex-press-ioned

Is it true we all want the things we can't have?
Elusive elements of our lives that never seem to be satisfied?
I hear that somewhere out there in the world there are people who are completely satisfied and I think to myself "How the hell can they DO that? Like... what's the catch?"

From what I hear it's all about attitude, your perspective, the way you approach the question to begin with...
What is there to be dissatisfied with? The world is the world, accept it and you will be free of the chains of discontent!

The polarities of content/discontent or satisfaction/dissatisfaction all lead me to the idea of expectation...

When I was a kid my father always used to tell me that "you hope for the best and plan for the worst." And he followed what he preached, to this day he still does that as often as he can.
However, I found that way of approaching life to be fairly cynical.
It's almost at odds with the idea that if you think positively, good things will happen.
If you're focused on the potentially negative aspects of every situation, is there room for the positive in your head? Or are you just pleasantly surprised and therefore unprepared for when those good things occur but happy about it so it doesn't seem as much work? And if you DO recognize that it's just as much work dealing with the happy surprising event, does it lose some of it's happy value?
What about taking either as they come... then dealing with the situation? I know that's an approach I'd LIKE to use more often as it frees up a lot of mental energy. 
... you know... the time and effort that goes into "OH MY GOD, I hope that doesn't happen! Well what if it did? What would I do?" and I'll just stop there because it gives me hives....
Also... there's the idea that if you are looking for the shit to hit the fan, you'll think you see it- even if the shit is still out there in the lawn. Where that cute little Great Dane "Lucky" left it.

What I'm getting at is this expectation piece.
The work I do with the kids is highly influenced by the expectations I place on them.
Many of them (including myself and other adults) can become very uncomfortable if expectations for what we are supposed to do are not clearly defined. In my field we call this "structure" and "boundaries." Within that space there is a freedom of expression and the kids can feel comfortable that their efforts are meeting my (the evaluator or authority's) expectations.
Now- the problem arises when the kids are not meeting my expectations, most likely because they can't.
But I digress.

If I said I didn't have any expectations for this blog and journey that would be a flat out lie.
But what do I expect from this?
To hopefully have gained some insight about how I work, who I am, what kind of stuff I'm made of...
To gain infinite power and celebrity stardom. Get on the cover of TIME and flick cigarette ash on carpets.

Eh, maybe Steve wouldn't have ashed. I don't know if he smoked. But if he did I'm sure he woulda thought about it because it's dead cool and what says "I'm totally apathetic and therefore you should idolize me" like ashing on carpets? Exactly...

You know, I think I'll just accept that it's going to be whatever the hell it's going to be.
However, these little excerpts of a storyline have been confusing me lately.
I keep thinking... should I start a novel? I got some good ideas, why not? So I Google writing a novel- and instantly get sick by how many novel writers WRITE about how to write a novel. Jus kinna makes me nauseous...

And I can't help but get the feeling that "acceptance" is pretty much the key to life...
Just putting that out there.

In a way this blog thing is just another piece of structure I'm using as a vehicle for expression- (just like my kids) so express I shall!

The company's name is Federal Express... Wouldn't this be redundant? Extra Express?
As long as we accept it, right?