Expectations

I'm a person with expectations. I expect people to treat me like I treat them. To act in a certain respectable manner.  To give me what I give them in time, love and energy and sometimes I expect more. I always thought that was fair and a reasonable expectation. Yet I have been let down and disappointed in people in how they fall short, much more than they hit the mark.

I have always been a person that will shine the light on myself and say my favorite catch phrase “ Is it Me?”  Am I expecting too much?  Am I holding people to a height that they can’t reach? Am I being unfair?  Before that answer used to be an “Absolutely Not!”

Now as I mature and think about it;  I believe that, though it is good to have expectations it is not reasonable to believe the other person will automatically live up to your expectations.  

People come with their own set of experiences, knowledge, and culture,  that helps to shape who they are. Their response to your expectation may be all they have to give or all they know at this point. Their life experiences are not yours so some expectations could be unfair. We are all imperfect people.

Therefore the reason why I may be disappointed by the response or action that others display is because I expect more than they can give or  are willing to give. Yes,  it also can be a choice. “I choose not to give you anymore of me”.  And I have learned that that’s ok.  

I may choose to expect a level of what I put out to come back to me  but the difference now is I respect the response of the other person. I have learned, not to take it personally

but to take their response or action as they give it.  The only thing I can control is my reaction to the disappointment.  I had to learn that If I don’t receive what  I need or want from the person right now, I may never and that’s ok. .  Accept it and move on. 

The lesson I learned was that by expecting an outcome that may have been unrealistic and unattainable for someone else they didn’t disappoint me. I disappointed me by taking it personal.

 We all  have imperfections. Hopefully we never stop learning and growing on this life's

journey and are able to embrace the imperfection of human relationship.