Not So Great Expectations

Expectation is the root of all heartache. -William Shakespeare

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Expectation = Disappointment

I have learned over the years to not live life with high expectations. I was always told to 'Hope for the best but expect the worst', and that's what I learned to do. It's between that and not expecting anything at all. Something as simple as expecting people to just be decent human beings will cause your heart to ache. When I do something for someone, I do it now with no expectations. It has made a huge difference in life. .

I HAD Friends.

I haven't always been friendless. My husband and I got close with another couple, he worked at the same fire department as my husband. We got close and we hung out at their house every Friday night. They had two young boys and our kids would play while the adults cooked and drank, sometimes we'd play games or poker. Our son and their younger son went to school together. They asked me if I would get their son off of the bus, and keep him until they got off of work. Being the kind of friend I am, I had no problem saying yes. I was not aware that it was the start of an ongoing thing. One time quickly turned an everyday occurrence. They didn't ask except for that first time. They knew that I would always be there to get my son off of the bus so they just told their son to get off at his bus stop and they just expected me to be fine with it. This is how things went for a while. It took a lot for me to get angry enough to stick up for myself. As time passed, they would show up at my house hours after quitting time. They never called to tell me they would be late. For a while, I just let it go and kept up the charade. I began feeling frustrated at the situation, but never said anything.

With Friends like that, Who needs Friends?

We are all huge football fans here. I had a last minute opportunity to go to a football game. I had to find a babysitter at the last minute. I called our friends and expected them to be fine with watching my son especially after how much I've been watching their boy. They had a terrible attitude about keeping him, telling me how busy their evening was going to but with haste they agreed to keep him. I had trouble enjoying the game, I was just disappointed by the reaction I received when asking friends for a favor, my thoughts were stewing the whole time. When the game was over, I went to pick up my son. Just like I expected, I was greeted with a bad attitude. The fact that she watched my son ruined her evening. I told her that I was no longer able to watch her son after school. She threw the biggest hissy fit I have ever seen. She told me that friends didn't do that to each other. I picked up my son, put him in the car and went home. I decided at that point that I would never speak to those so-called friends ever again.

Expect more from yourself, not others.

The only high expectations I have are the ones that I have for myself. I expect myself to always to the right thing, or at least try to. I expect myself to learn something new everyday, and so far, I have been successful. I expect myself to be better than that me I was yesterday. I find that I don't make a habit of disappointing myself.