On Aspiration vs Expectation

This is Maebe. She is World Team fast. This has been a blessing and a challenge. A blessing because her natural drive, speed, intensity and love of the sport means she is capable of extraordinary things.  A challenge because it has also meant that I had no other option but to learn how to play the sport properly and to build the partnership necessary to compete as a team. I am actually very thankful for this challenge because it has forced me to become a better trainer and a better dog owner;  it has forced Maebe to learn to think on her own, to maintain focus, to figure things out.

Given our potential as a team, and some of our accomplishments in the couple of years we have been competing, I have to be diligent in not confusing my aspirations for the two of us with my expectations.

Charlotte Joko Beck says that Aspiration is “Our own true nature seeking to realize and express itself.” When I think if the journey that Maebe and I are on, it is one in which I want to enable us to develop as a team to the best of our ability.

Expectation is something different. It is built on ego. It is the voice that says, to quote Ricky Bobby, the fictional race car driver, “If you’re not first, you’re last.” It is the disappointment in not getting the Double Q; the bitterness over the dropped bar; the dissatisfaction with qualifying but not placing.

I was recently at a trial where I saw several different handlers pull their dogs off because of an off-course (which was due to poor handling). There were some handlers who packed up and left because they didn’t qualify after their first run. These handlers were clearly caught up in their expectations.

At the same trial, I saw handlers happy with their runs, regardless of whether the qualified or placed. Some of these handlers I have known for years and have witnessed their journey from having dogs they could barely control to becoming a team. I am on that same journey. What we have in common is that we all aspire to do the best we can, to learn from our mistakes, and to always keep in mind that regardless of the success or failure that we experience at a particular moment, we can always be satisfied.