There was once a young artist who had just received a commissioning to paint the portrait of a local builder. To celebrate, he went to a local cafe to enjoy a nice meal. While he was eating, he noticed the headline on a newspaper that was laying on a nearby table. The headline read,"HARD TIMES ARE COMING" The headline was a little disturbing to him but he continued to eat his meal. While eating, he couldn't help but think,"HARD TIMES ARE COMING!" The words began to weigh on his mind more and more. He began to think, hard times are coming, this is no time for me to be sitting here unnecessarily spending money on a nice meal. I need to get to work. He called to the cafe owner and requested his check. The cafe owner said," you seem upset, is everything okay?" The young artist responded,"hard times are coming and this is no time for me to be unnecessarily spending money like this. I need to get to work!" He paid his check and hurriedly left the cafe. Well, the cafe owner got to thinking, hard times are coming? The more he thought about it the more anxious he became. He picked up his phone and called his wife. He said,"sweetheart I need you to call the tailor shop and cancel that order for your new dress for the chamber of commerce ball. You see, hard times are coming and this is no time for us to be unnecessarily spending money like that." She said,"okay, I'll let them know." She called the local tailor shop and told them,"I need to cancel my order for that new dress for the chamber of commerce ball. You see, my husband the cafe owner said hard times are coming and we shouldn't be unnecessarily spending money like this. I'm sorry." The order was cancelled. The tailor shop owner got to thinking, hard times are coming? The more he thought about it the more anxious he felt. He picked up the phone and called the local builder. He said,"I need to cancel that contract and plans for expanding my tailor shop. You see, hard times are coming and this is no time for me to be unnecessarily spending money like that. I'm sorry." Well, the local builder got to thinking, hard times are coming? The more he thought about it the more anxious he felt. He picked up the phone and called the young artist. He said,"I need to cancel the commission to have my portrait painted. You see, hard times are coming and this is no time for me to be unnecessarily spending money like that. I'm sorry." The young artist, now discouraged and depressed, went back to the corner cafe to drown his sorrows in some wine. While he was drinking the wine, he saw the newspaper with the headline "HARD TIMES ARE COMING" still sitting on the same table. He picked up the paper and noticed that the date on the paper was ten years old. It had been left on the table when the cafe owner had been unpacking dishes earlier in the day, yet the headline managed to infect the thinking of the young artist and ultimately the entire community. The artist believed hard times were coming and by virtue of his and everyone else's behavior they predicted and then ensured hard times would come.
How often have we done something like this in our own lives. We tend to get what we expect. If you expect to have a bad experience somewhere, your subconscious mind will trigger the behaviors within you that will ensure you have a bad time. Change expectations and you can change your life!
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