Beware of false expectations
A lot of expectations were met on Christmas Day. But some expectations were likely not met.
If people were expecting unrealistic presents, or unrealistic behavior from other people, they may be disappointed. Successful living involves having healthy expectations both of yourself and others, and not just at Christmas.
False expectations can create problems throughout the year. Assuming something is going to happen in the future, just because it happened in the past, is not always a good idea.
When you start to assume something, you can get into trouble. One way of looking at the word “assume” is that it makes an “ass” out of “u” and “me”. If you don’t check out what you think someone else is asking you to do, you might do the wrong thing.
Read Also
Stock dogs show off herding skills at Ag in Motion
Stock dogs draw a crowd at Ag in Motion. Border collies and other herding breeds are well known for the work they do on the farm.
All of us get caught up in assuming. And when we don’t check things out before we act, we can get into trouble.
An embarrassing but funny thing happened to me. Many of the stores where I live have automatic doors. You walk up, activate a light sensor and the door swings open. You can get so used to these things you assume all stores have them. Well, they don’t, as I found out a couple of weeks ago. I stepped up to a door, paused and waited for it to open. It seemed to be reacting slowly, but I blamed that on the recent cold weather. Since my mind was on other things, I’m sure I must have stood there for five seconds before I realized the door wasn’t going to open
I then cursed a bit under my breath about the door being broken, pushed it and went out. Only then did I realize you actually had to push the door to get out.
Life is seldom automatic for us. We all usually have to push ourselves to get something done. And if we have false expectations and assume that someone else will open the doors of life for us, we are in for a big surprise. Yes, things may seem to go smoothly for a while. All the right doors will open on time, perhaps with little or no effort.
Healthy expectations are important in marriage. Set goals attainable for yourself and your relationship. Then, monitor how well you meet them. If you are consistently doing well, you might set higher goals. If you aren’t, you may have to reduce your expectations. The more realistic your expectation is, the better you will do.
But avoid setting up and having unrealistic expectations of your partner. The more he or she feels the pressure to do something, the less he or she will likely do it.
I suggest you set up expectations for yourself, and set up a regular way to express appreciation and support to your partner.
