"A Declaration of Independence"

On this day, January the twenty-second, in the year two thousand and one, I hereby propose my formal independence of and separation from any idea, action, or thought, which pertains to the ideal of expectations: expectations which I place on others, expectations which I, however unknowingly, place on myself, and lastly the expectations which others place on myself, and all worry associated with these expectations. It is my belief that if my independence from this stressing ideal is not declared now, I will further involve the physical and mental portions of myself with the stress which accompanies various expectations. Due to my respect for my community, I find it beneficial and polite on my behalf to alert those members of it of my formal disassociation from the ideals for which the term expectations stands.

I believe the basis on which I justify my independence are relatively obvious to all, but in the spirit of justifying my cause, I shall enumerate them in writing. I believe that each has a right to the serenity which accompanies a life without worry. I believe that excess stress is unfounded. I believe that it is unjust and undeniably unfair to expect of an individual any more than he or she has already done or is wont to do. It is my belief, therefore, that I must disassociate myself from an ideal or practice, such as that of expectationism, which binds a subject to an existence of worry and stress.

My cause for separation is well-founded. My experience, which is considerable, with regards to expectations - both those of others and of myself - have been overall unpleasant, and without benefit. Why then, would one knowingly indulge oneself in such a futile practice? I have found many faults with it:

• In cases wherein I have expected others to measure up to or fulfill a certain standard of my decision, I have found that the person (or persons) in questions usually do not meet the expectations I have subconsciously rendered, and this shortcoming on his/ her/ their part(s) is wont to cause undue stress, disappointment, and, in some cases, panic on mine.

• In cases wherein others have placed certain guidelines (which may have been verbalized or merely assumed) on me, my failure to perform and the pressure on me to appease tends to result in unconstitutional worry: a pastime which has demonstrated repeatedly a lack in useful profit.

• In cases wherein I have preemptively expected a standard of performance of myself, I am known to devote hours to that ridiculous pastime of which I earlier spoke, due to my disappointment in myself. Often, this unhealthy neurosis is concerned with situations that arise which there is absolutely nothing within my power I can do to help. In these cases, which tend to occur with increasing frequency as I mature, a high percentage of my energy to be used to help solve the problem or achieve my goal is wasted on undue stress and nervousness.

It is decided, thus, that if I am to retain the remainder of my sanity, and attain any hope for a future of success, I am to denounce my habitual conflicts with expectations, and begin anew, a brighter, more free and serenely happy individual. I bid the practice of expectationism, and its brother, stress, and sister, worry, adieu.

Sincerely,
Lyric Thompson

Lyric Thompson , age 16, is the daughter of Gabrielle & Ed Thompson, and a rising senior at McDowell High School where she's active in Beta, Interact, & Student Body clubs. This summer she'll be on the Teens Westward Bound trip across the U.S.