EXPECTATION VS. ACCEPTANCE
When was the last time you were really disappointed?
Was it something at work? How about a situation with a friend or family member? That jerk that cut you off in traffic?
The older I get the more I truly believe one of the biggest keys to happiness has to do with setting expectations and being in a place to be able to accept what is.
As much as I try not to be, I am an over-thinker. I run through possible scenarios and/or outcomes in my head and typically, the times I have experienced the biggest disappointments were the times that I set the highest expectations.
Brian’s doctor should have been kinder when delivering the news of his ALS diagnosis. People should be or should have been better to Brian once he got sick. The system should provide the type of care that everyone deserves…kind and compassionate. This post should have been ready before now.
Do you see a pattern in these scenarios?
Should.
This bleeding heart that wants so badly for everything to be fair. I am a shoulda kind of girl. Things should be fair. People should do the right thing.
So there’s the expectation of what should be and then there’s a feeling of trying to accept what is. If the expectation is so high and the reality comes in so much lower than the expectation, then the disappointment is so much greater.
Yet, if the expectation is set at a realistic and reasonable level, then if it’s not met the disappointment isn’t so great. Again, keep your standards high and expectations low. If low doesn’t work, phrase it like, keep expectations reasonable.
Speaking of expectations, I should have had this post up by now, but my brain can’t seem to get centered enough to keep going. It’s been swirling with current events, which makes it hard to be writing about being accepting of certain things.
The reality is that this post is going up and I’m accepting that and moving on. I can always come back to this topic another time, but I’m not going to overthink this one today. (Real-time growth?!)
For now, I leave it at that. Head over to this post on Facebook and tell me about something that disappointed you more than it could have if your expectations had been lower. Or how you were able to accept something. (I’d say leave a comment but I’m still learning the website building. Coming soon!)
