Unreasonable Expectations?

What are my expectations of people? What are people’s expectations of me? Am I meeting others expectations? Am I meeting my own expectations? Whose expectations are most important? What is considered an unreasonable expectation?

I can feel someone’s frustrations with me if I’m not meeting their expectations even if their not saying a word. Think of the energy that is expended over frustration that still doesn’t produce the desired results.

This past weekend I had a friend that tended to get frustrated almost everyday at something. Instead of taking action, the behaviors showed the frustration. It’s amazing how we let other people control our happiness, connectedness and inclusion. We tend to give our power away to other people or situations. It turned out to be almost like a victim mentality. Is there another way the situations could have been approached?

If I want to go to dinner with someone, do I wait on them to call me or do I call them? What stories do I create about the person if they don’t call me? What stories do I create in my mind about being rejected, abandoned, and left out if someone doesn’t show up the way I want them to show up? I can’t answer these questions for anyone but myself. I do hope this stirs some thought with a friend that experienced whatever he experienced this past weekend.

I personally don’t let other people create my happiness, my inclusion, my connectedness with others. If I want to be included I make the initiative, I take the action to do so. I don’t expect other people to be responsible for me being included, it’s my responsibility.

No one can make me feel happy, No one can make me feel loved, No one can make me feel rejected, No one can make me feel pain, No one can make me feel angry. I choose to feel those emotions or not feel those emotions; no one has control over those emotions other than myself. It was freeing when I realized this and it gave me incredible power back.