Great Expectations

This is an oldie but a goodie - originally written Dec 7, 2009.  Clearly I'm crashing after all the caffeine from the past couple of days and am in no shape to come up with something original tonight.  Hopefully those of you that already read this will enjoy it as much today as you did back then, assuming you liked it that is =)

It's not about what happens; it's about how it makes you feel about your life, your friends, and everything around you.

I like to think that I am fairly easy going for a control freak. Yes I like things done a certain way, but I can give up control if I need to. You have to know which battles to fight and when to walk away. I have expectations of myself which can be extreme in either direction but we all have to start somewhere. The question of the evening is whether or not to impose those expectations onto others.

I don't think it's wrong to have expectations of the people in our lives or even people in general. However, we do need to be realistic of our expectations. For example, I would not expect all of my co-workers to put in the same amount of additional time into our store. Not everyone has the same level of experience and some of them are more invested than others. Similarly, while I almost always pick up my phone if it rings in the middle of the night it would be unwise to trust that all of my friends would do the same.

One thing you can count on is that people will surprise you at every turn. Whether it's discovering new allies or experiencing heartbreaking disappointment, expectations are like rules; they are made to be broken.

Note - it's almost 15 months later and I'm realizing how difficult it is to be realistic about my expectations in regards to other people.  This is a note I should have re-read several months ago after feeling let down.  Some things never change, and others just take a while so get ready to test your patience.