Letting Go Of Expectations

Expectations of oneself or others can be a hard thing to live with. If we do not live up to our own expectations, we feel lost at our own inability. If others let us down, we have a hard time understanding or even forgiving them. Expectations are ideas of how things should be and work out in our lives. Expectations can also be looked at as rules laid down by us to be followed, either within ourselves or by others. Does life really follow our example of what we think should be? Are we really in control of how life is and will be? There are expectations coming from everywhere, from your parents, spouse, coworkers, and friends; it is endless. We all create ideas in our minds and hearts of what we think should be in our life, for our future, and for the other people in our lives. You can imagine how our expectations can become entangled with those of others and not correlate, for they are only ideas we each hold and live by. They are not necessary in our lives; we can live without them, but few do. If we were open to what may be, how others are, or what they do, perhaps we would find less disappointment and more acceptance. Life is not under our law, nor can we always make it be a certain way so that it fits within our expectations. When we do this we are setting ourselves up for failure and the risk of further disappointment. If you accept yourself and are open to what you can do or accomplish, then you will always be satisfied with the results. When others behave as they do and you expect nothing of them, you are accepting them as they are. When we are all open, life becomes easier because there are no rules, agendas, or plans to fit into. When we are open, we find it a lot easier to flow with what is happening in our lives because we are not resisting it. Expectations get in the way of our happiness because they cannot always be met. When one lets go of this behavior, you come to realize that life is okay the way it is. Your future, whatever it may be or whatever you may do, will be as good as it will be. How others expectations affect you will not matter as much because you have let go of yours. The more open we are, the easier this will all feel for yourself and for others in your life.