“We’re wired to expect the world to be brighter and more meaningful and more obviously interesting than it actually is. And when we realize that it isn’t, we start looking around for the real world.” Lev Grossman
I’m supposed to do a self-evaluation for something I signed up to do and I find it very difficult. I don’t do well with self-descriptions, let alone “judging” myself for something I did or didn’t do. The exciting part, though, is asking yourself if you have met or exceeded other people’s expectations. And yours, too.
In these things, I guess I have to make do with being honest, since that always works.
What’s the purpose of self-evaluation? Most people see this as justification for appraisal. The official battlecry is: “Never sell yourself short,” especially if you believe from the bottom of your big, throbbing heart that you deserve some appreciation. Others take a different perspective. It’s probably a chance to weigh the things you’ve done and whether they amount to anything that will make you a better and stronger person (if you’re cheesy as hell).
Expectations are a tricky thing. In the workplace, it’s natural for the company to have certain expectations because it pays you to meet/exceed them in the first place. Nobody is king except that whose hands feed you. But to gauge something as relative as “expectations,” it’s a tall order. It’s the Petronas Towers of orders.
In light of the recent Philippine elections, many people feel disheartened and (dare I say it) disgusted by the results. They condemn how some people voted, why Filipinos easily forget, and how the system really sucks in our country. But after all the harsh, spiteful, demeaning words are out in the open, democracy still entails that we get and accept the government that we create. It’s not always to our liking, for we are not that lucky. So we are left to face the consequences and hope for the best. This may be hard for most of us to do because losing in the elections means losing faith in our country. But do we really want to do that? Do we really want to throw in the towel and give up?
Instead of dwelling on what we can’t change (for now, that is), we just have to push these people (whom we didn’t like but were vested with power by the majority) to do their job — to prove us wrong. We all have different reasons why we did and didn’t vote for a particular candidate but at the end of the day, we all want the same thing. We all want change. Can we do that by being sore losers?
Your guess is as good as mine.
As for the newly-elected (and re-elected), I pose this challenge. Meet our expectations (for good governance). In fact, exceed them. We hesitantly and doubtfully gave you the power to do that so we’ll be watching you from here on out. Be the change that we seek. For the record, we are not asking. We are demanding, and rightfully so.
