Good Expectations

Last time, I wrote about expectations and how they can detrimentally affect our perception of reality. Expectations do not always, however, serve such a negative purpose. Indeed, without expectations, we easily sink into apathy and failure (like '90s grunge rockers). Expectations serve the legitimate purpose of motivating us (or someone else) to achieve more than we would otherwise accomplish.
Consider the case of a soccer team. If a coach sets low expectations for his team, the end result will be a team that accomplishes little. If, however, the coach sets high (yet realistic) expectations for his team, the team will perform well. Likewise, in our own lives, if we expect nothing from ourselves, nothing is precisely what we will get. If, however, we expect ourselves to live to a certain standard, we will try to live up to that standard. (Obviously, some of us set the standard too high, but that's another story.) Therefore, expectations function as a driving force, urging us onward to become something more than we otherwise would become.
As a side note, just as unmet expectations are a source of anger and conflict in relationships, so exceeded expectations are a source of joy and wonder. To eliminate expectations in order to avoid the anger of unmet expectations means that we often would have to live without the joy of exceeded expectations. While I know first-hand the pain of unmet expectations, I also know that I would not trade the joy of having people around me surpass my expectations.