That's what makes us unhappy.
When we want something, when we await an outcome, when we hope for a reward.
That's what spoils the present.
The same moment, with or without expectation, isn't lived the same way.
The same sequence of events, the same actions, the same outcome – felt in diametrically opposite ways depending on what we hope for.
This is probably the difference between the novice and the zen master:
The master spots the slightest craving, the slightest inner attachment.
It's like ink in water: a single drop is enough to color the whole glass.
What we desire without admitting it, what we chase without thinking about it, colors every thought, every action, the whole day.
Expectation is what makes us irritable, impatient, envious.
We're no longer in the flow, because our eyes stay fixed on an imaginary line.
One that was perhaps unreachable from the start. Or guaranteed all along.
But in that moment, nothing else exists.
The ray of sunlight and the pleasant surprises alike are ignored.
There is only this goal.
One we sometimes aren't even aware of.