{"id":1050,"date":"2010-03-09T03:01:12","date_gmt":"2010-03-09T03:01:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/markdroberts\/2010\/03\/whats-better-anticipation-or-the-real-thing.html"},"modified":"2010-03-09T03:01:12","modified_gmt":"2010-03-09T03:01:12","slug":"whats-better-anticipation-or-the-real-thing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2010\/03\/whats-better-anticipation-or-the-real-thing.html","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s Better? Anticipation or the Real Thing?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I read an opinion piece in USA Today<\/em> that got me thinking: “We expect too much of our presidents” <\/a>by William Choslovsky. I’m not so interested in the main point of the column, which is a defense of President Obama on the basis that our expectations for him were unrealistically high. (I do have to wonder, though, why presidential candidates of all stripes continue to promise the moon, even when they know they can only deliver green cheese. And I do wonder, even more, why we voters believe their promises, even when we should know better. But I’ll save these wonderings for another blog post.)
\nWhat I found most fascinating in Choslovsky’s piece was one sentence, a rhetorical flourish that reflects curious perspective on life. In context, the author is noting that Barack Obama was once as popular as a rock star. But, Choslovsky implies, he’s not so favored anymore. So what happened? Here’s Choslovsky’s answer:<\/p>\n

What happened is he won, and Candidate Obama became President Obama. And as with most things in life, the anticipation was better than the real thing.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I was struck by the second sentence: “And as with most things in life, the anticipation was better than the real thing.”
\nIs this true? In most of life, do our expectations exceed reality? Is life truly a long line of disappointments?
\nI’ve been sorting through my life, trying to remember when anticipation was better than the real thing. There have been times when this was true. I’ll never forget my first visit to Plymouth Rock. I was expecting to see a rock big enough for a ship full of pilgrims to gather upon it for a prayer meeting.\u00a0 In fact, Plymouth Rock was about as big as an oversized bean bag chair. For me, the anticipation of Plymouth Rock was better than the real thing. (The only thing amazing about it was the fact that the pilgrims managed to land in 1620 on a rock that had 1620 carved into its side. Yes, I am aware that what’s left of the rock is much less than the original, and that a good part of it lies beneath the sand, and that the 1620 was probably not there when the pilgrims landed.)
\nThere have also been times when a highly anticipated experience began as much less than I had hoped.\u00a0 I anticipated college to be a blast, but found myself terribly homesick in my first few months. I thought my marriage to Linda would be easy, but in fact we got off to a rocky start. I expected parenthood to be hard work, but had no idea just how hard it would really be.
\nYou might say that, for me, in the case of college, marriage, and parenthood, anticipation was better than the real thing. But this would be utterly wrong. Yes, my first few months of college were difficult, but I ended up having a fantastic experience. Linda and I had a difficult time in the beginning of our marriage, but now, after 25 years, what I’ve experienced is immeasurably better than what I expected. And, yes, parenthood has been harder than I once realized. But the joys of parenting far, far outweigh the unanticipated challenges.
\nMany things in life have certainly been different from what I had anticipated. And many things have turned out to be harder than what I had expected. But, unless my memory has blotted out the bad stuff, I can honestly say that, for the most part, the real thing has been better than my anticipation. It may be true, however, that the best things in life often start out falling short of expectations, only to exceed them later on.
\nSo what do you think? Would you agree that anticipation usually trumps reality? Or is it the other way around? Does life generally disappoint you? Or does it surprise you with unexpected grace? What in life has been for you like Plymouth Rock was for me? What in life has turned out to be much better than you thought?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I read an opinion piece in USA Today that got me thinking: “We expect too much of our presidents” by William Choslovsky. I’m not so interested in the main point of the column, which is a defense of President Obama on the basis that our expectations for him were unrealistically high. (I do have to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":214,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-holy-week-easter"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat\u2019s Better? Anticipation or the Real Thing? - Mark D. 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Roberts","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/f2d\/f2ddf5f080861f66ea230384f9d1bab2x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/f2d\/f2ddf5f080861f66ea230384f9d1bab2x96.jpg","caption":"Mark D. Roberts"},"description":"The Rev. Dr. Mark D. Roberts is a pastor, author, retreat leader, speaker, and blogger. Since October 2007 he has been the Senior Director and Scholar-in-Residence for Laity Lodge, a multifaceted ministry in the Hill Country of Texas. Before coming to Laity Lodge, he was for sixteen years the Senior Pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church in Irvine, California (a city in Orange County about forty miles south of Los Angeles). Before his time at Irvine Pres, Mark served on the staff of the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood as Associate Pastor of Education. (Thanks to Janel Pahl for taking the photo to the right.) Mark studied at Harvard University, receiving a B.A. in Philosophy, an M.A. in the Study of Religion, and a Ph.D. in New Testament and Christian Origins. He has taught classes in New Testament for Fuller Theological Seminary and San Francisco Theological Seminary. Mark has written several books, including No Holds Barred: Wrestling with God in Prayer (WaterBrook, 2005), Dare to Be True (WaterBrook, 2003), Jesus Revealed (WaterBrook, 2002), After \"I Believe\" (Baker, 2002), and Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther (Word, 1993). His most recent book is Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (Crossway, 2007). He is currently working on a commentary on Ephesians that will be published by Zondervan in 2014. Mark writes a devotional for The High Calling of Our Daily Work, a website associated with Laity Lodge. His \"Daily Reflections\" can be viewed online or sent as a daily email. If you wish to receive this email, just visit TheHighCalling.org and sign up. Mark serves on the editorial board of Worship Leader magazine, where he publishes articles and reviews, including his regular column \"Lyrical Poetry.\" Additionally, he has published dozens of articles in leading magazines and journals. He often speaks for churches and other Christian groups, and has been interviewed on over seventy-five radio programs nationwide. Mark is married to Linda, who is a Marriage and Family Therapist, a Spiritual Director, and a retreat speaker. They have two children, Nathan and Kara.For Publicity Photos and Bio Statements for Mark, please check here. Mark's Dossier Professional History: Senior Director and Scholar-in Residence, Laity Lodge, October 2007 to present. Senior Pastor Irvine Presbyterian Church, June 1991 to September 2007 Adjunct Assistant Professor Fuller Theological Seminary, 1994 to 2007. Courses: New Testament Theology and Exegesis. Adjunct Instructor San Francisco Theological Seminary, 1995 to 2001. Courses: New Testament Greek and Exegesis Associate Pastor of Education First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, 1987-1991 Teaching Fellow Harvard University, 1980-1983 Education: Ph.D. in the Study of Religion. Harvard University, 1992. Area: New Testament and Christian Origins M.A. in the Study of Religion Harvard University, 1984. A.B. magna cum laude in Philosophy Harvard University, 1979. Phi Beta Kappa; Danforth Fellowship Books: Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Crossway, 2007 No Holds Barred: Wrestling with God in Prayer. WaterBrook, 2005 Dare to Be True: Living in the Freedom of Complete Honesty. WaterBrook, 2003. Jesus Revealed: Know Him Better to Love Him Better. WaterBrook, 2002. After \"I Believe\": Experiencing Authentic Christian Living. Baker, 2002. Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther in the Communicator's Commentary Series. Word, 1993. Contacting Mark: You can reach Mark at: E-mail: mark@markdroberts.com mroberts@laitylodge.org Phone: Laity Lodge: (830) 792-1216 Address: Laity Lodge 719 Earl Garrett Kerrville, TX 78028","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/author\/mroberts"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/214"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1050"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1050\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}