The Sanford Berenberg Experience: Following the Wrong Expectations

Good Morning,

Back in December, I went back into surgery to have a steel rod removed from my leg. This rock was placed in my leg in 2010 to correct it improperly healed broken leg. Prior to the surgery I consulted with the doctor on how long the healing would be from this latest surgery. The doctor said if I had the surgery on Friday I would be back at work on Monday.

This set the expectation that the recovery from the surgery would be very quick compared to the one from 2010 which took nearly 2 months.

After the surgery, I focus on achieving that expectation by getting back to work as soon as possible. I had the surgery on the first of six days off, which gave me twice the amount of time the doctor said I would need to be able recover from the surgery. During this time I pushed myself to be able to walk, climb stairs, drive and other normal functions.

I was able to get back to work after the six days off and did normal work of the most part for three days. There was a problem though, the amount of time that I truly needed to recover from the surgery was far longer than three days. In my process of getting myself ready to go back to work I push my body further than it needed to be pushed.

I ended up spending the next four days with a combination of bed rest and super light-duty. I had to make up for trying to live up to an incorrect expectation.

How often in life delete push ourselves to meet in expectation which in and of itself is unreal or just wrong?

I am not sure if I were to go back to the doctor if I would get a different expectation than the one he originally gave me. He is the best in the world at what he does. It just may be in my case that expectation would not fit my circumstances.

This goes for all expectations, we need to be flexible and understand that what we expect to be true, what we expect to happen may not be what happens.

We need to be flexible and understand that expectations can be moving targets.

Charles Darwin once said that is not the strongest species or the most intelligent that often survives but the one that is most readily adaptable to change.

One we follow expectations and do not waver, we open the doorway to going down the wrong path if we are not ready to be flexible and change our expectations to reflect the reality that we see around us.

Like changing gears in my recovery from surgery I had to change the expectations that I was originally given. If I had not I would've found myself back in the hospital or worse.

Having expectations is good, knowing that they may change is better, and adapting to those changes is best.

I am well on my way to full recovery and have a better understanding that even if expectations are given by professionals, or even the best in the world, I need to be ready to change with the reality that is around me.

Enjoy!

Sanford Berenberg

Sanford@berenberg.net
http://www.berenberg.net

http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/
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