The Thankful Project Day 22: An Expectation

I'm linking up with Kenzie at Chasing Happy for The Thankful Project. This post is for Day 22 and the  prompt is "an expectation."

This prompt took a little longer than others to think about. What expectation am I thankful for anyway? It's weird to think of expectations as things to be thankful for because they are typically associated with negative things. I have a lot of expectations from friends, spouse, parents, houses, cars, etc. Who doesn't? I think what causes expectations to have a negative meaning is when they are unrealistic. We get disappointed when people fail to meet our expectations. Sometimes, I think, we have too high of an expectation from others. Our unrealistic expectations from people create this tension in our relationships that drives other people away from us. We get so butt-hurt sometimes when people fail to meet our expectations. But do we stop and think that perhaps people didn't intend to let us down? What if their best is just less than what we expect?

William Shakespeare once said, "Expectation is the root of all heartache." I think what he said is true because if we don't have any expectation then we will not be disappointed. Honestly, I think what screws us up most in life is the picture in our head of how things are supposed to be. If we stop expecting and, for once, start living the life that is handed to us then maybe we will live a happier life. Without expectations, then we won't be anticipating for good things to happen before they actually occur. If we are not waiting, maybe we would be surprised and thankful when things actually turn out decent in our lives.

Even though I think expectations are bad, not all of them are. The expectations I am thankful for are the ones I expect of myself. I expect myself to do well in school, to be a good wife to my husband, a good mother for Maylee, and overall, the best person that I can be. These expectations push me to work harder for my goals, and not to settle for anything less. They help me be a better me. Without personal expectations, I probably wouldn't be where I am today.

What expectations are you thankful for?