Sometimes people say, "I won't have any expectations. That way, I won't be disappointed." Is this even possible?

Actually, this is not a healthy approach.

The reason is: You have expectations whether you want to think so, or not. If you don't consciously choose or identify your expectations, your emotions will (subconsciously) do this for you.

This is why people often say or think, "I don't know what I expected. But I'm disappointed."

Such a phenomenon proves exactly what I'm saying.

“The NSA is foiling terrorist plots.”

How do we know that?

There haven’t been acts of terrorism since 9/11, not major ones.

What about Fort Hood? What about Benghazi? What about the Boston Marathon massacre?

“With greater government surveillance, we could have thwarted those.” So we’re told by the officials who run the government.

You see the logic? The more government intrusions we have, the less violence there will be. The absence of violence is attributed to government. The presence of violence is attributed to a lack of government.

It’s Big Government ideology applied now to “national security.” All good is due to government action. All ill is attributed to lack of government action. As with health care, business, and virtually everything else (outside of sex or abortion), the only solution is more government; and the only malady is a lack of government.

Job security. Health security. Social Security. Security, security, security ...

Conventional wisdom to the contrary, "security" does not mean the absence of conflict, work or pain. Psychologically, security refers to an emotional state of competence, freedom-worship, and confidence that one has adequate tools to survive and flourish in life. Individuals do not feel secure because others are taking care of them; they feel secure because they are confident in the knowledge they can take care of themselves. The more self-reliant one is, the more secure one will feel.