Great Expectations

You can never expect others to be like you. It might be really cool but actually, it’s not. This immense world is made up of so many unique people that it would be boring to have two people be the exact same. This week’s theme, boys and girls, was expectations of others.

The first time it reared its head was in an argument with my husband. He had said to me many times that I expect him to be like me. For some reason, this week, the accusation finally hit home. I occasionally do expect too much of him where I don’t usually of others. I realized that I needed to take a step back and reevaluate my treatment of him. I’m not entirely sure where this re-focus will take me or us but it was something that had to be done for both my benefit and for us as a couple.

The next time the theme of expectations reared its ugly head had to do with a work situation. Someone accused someone else of something and I didn’t think this accusation was accurate for a number of reasons. 1) The person making the accusation is guilty of the activity themselves. That stuff always bothers me 2) Even if the accusation is true, why can’t people see past certain things to understand what is really going on behind certain types of manifestations? 3) If you give people feedback about their flaws, that doesn’t mean you can’t live with it to some degree and learn to look past them, right?

What bothered me about this second demonstration of expectations is that you can’t change people. You can only change yourself. So, before you go out saying stuff about people, look inward first. Are you complaining about something in another person that you do yourself? If that’s the case, you should probably be the brave person and work on your own issues first before projecting onto others. It seems like a small step but it isn’t. However if more people would do this, then it would save an awful lot of heartache and animosity in the long run.