I went to see the Rolling Stones on Saturday night. I have loved the Rolling Stones since my dad first played the Let it Bleed LP when I was an elementary student. Much of my teen years were characterized by the double CD that lived in my CD player – Rolling Stones, Hot Rocks 1964-1971 & the drum lessons I shared with my friend Zoe.
Mick Jagger, The Rolling Stones, May 30, 2015
This was the first time I had ever seen them live and I had been wondering whether it was going to disappoint me and whether they should just live in my head as this band I loved, but never saw. Then I decided – hey they were all still together, still alive, still playing, so why not? The venue was a huge open air stadium, which seated around 100,000 people. Occupying a space with so many people who are all having a similar excited, positive energetic experience is something wonderful – the connection between all these people was spectacular!
Kid Rock opened, getting the crowd in the right mood. The crowd – a mixed age, mixed class, mixed gender group was palpably excited. The rain had stopped, the breeze was warm, the sun was setting, the beer sellers were walking around trading their wares, the energy was buzzing.
They opened with Jumping Jack Flash. Mick is 71 years old, but he spent 2 1/2 hrs dancing, thrusting, singing, prancing, in the way that I had seen on youtube clips from 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 years ago. This man did not stop – stick thin, but muscled and energetic he worked the crowd in the way that only Mick Jagger can. Keith Richards worked his magic – and hearing the riffs to Paint it Black, Wild Horses, Gimme Shelter, Sympathy for the Devil – played in front of me, by the one and only Keith Richards was magical. Ronnie Wood often had a cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth and Charlie Watts was the consummate professional – quiet, diligent and as always, delivering the beats that we’ve come to expect from him!
Expectations. I went to the concert expecting them all to have slowed down. I was spectacularly surprised. I have found that this technique has played out well in my life, during the last year – I lower my expectations and then I am pleasantly surprised when my expectations are exceeded! However, research suggests that this is not usually the case – except for the situation, called “defensive pessimism” which results in people working harder before a test, for example, so that they do not do as badly as they had anticipated, expecting the worse, makes one feel bad before the event and not better (compared to controls), after the event!
Does this work well in your life? Sometimes you have to find strategies that work for you and cultivate them. I usually throw myself into situations – I tend not to shy away from new experiences, but sometimes I am leery about whether they will play out as I hope. What this experience showed me – was go for it, life’s too short and maybe, just maybe, over-thinking it is not necessary. And maybe, like the Stones song, I should have No Expectations….
Copyright, June 2015, Yoga Brained LLC.