What are your expectations in life?
How often are those expectations met?
What feelings arise if the outcome falls short of those expectations?
Take a few minutes and think about any pf the possible expectations you may have placed on your career, a relationship, on your family and friends. Once you have taken the time to do that, think about how many times you experienced disappointment because expectations were unmet.
I was recently struggling with some unmet expectations and this quote by Rasheed Ogunlaru served as a reminder of how important it is to temper your expectations. By allowing yourself to ease up on your expectations, you will help fight against the disappointment if those expectations are not met.
Countless time in my life, I allowed my expectations to grow to unrealistic proportions only to experience utter disappointment and frustration when those expectations missed the mark according to my imagined rules.
At times, I catch myself still doing that today.
Many of us do this with friends, family, career, or partner/spouse. Are these expectations even valid or fair?
Not only do many of us apply our own expectations to everything around us, we grow up having similar or even greater expectations put on us. We are expected “to be,” “to act,” “to live,” a certain way by all of the same people we project our expectations on to.
That is a lot of pressure. Would you agree?
What happens when expectations are unmet, on either side?
It typically leads to disappointment, anger, frustration, resentment, all of those negative, unhealthy feelings that can easily ruin a person’s day, week, year, or even their life.
So, what do we do?
How do we avoid this?
Well, we can only control our own reaction. I think we can all agree with that, correct?
How about we begin by entering situations or relationship with an open mind as opposed to what we expect the outcome to be? We ease up on what we expect the result to be because by doing that it will diminish disappoint and will reduce the unwanted pressure we place on our external environment and ourselves.
Now, you might be saying, “Wow that sounds great. I am willing to give it a shot even though it might be challenging at times. What about the expectations others put on us?”
That is a great question.
Remember, we can only control our own reaction, not the reaction of others. If you feel the pressure of external expectations falling on you, uncover the source and approach it with curiosity.
If it is coming from a friend, family member, or partner/spouse, see if having an open conversation with them will help alleviate that pressure.
In some cases it may help, others it may not. As long as you focus on keeping your expectations at a realistic level, you can minimize the disappointment you experience as you continue your journey.
Now it’s your turn.
How does this quote inspire you?
Tell me about an experience where the outcome of a situation or the actions of someone failed to meet your expectations. What feelings did you experience? How were you able to overcome that situation?
Contact me or share your thoughts below in the Comments section.
Let’s get the discussion going.
Remember, you are not alone on this journey. Together we can become stronger individuals.
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