expectations
Years ago I came to the realization that expectations were at the root of most of my disappointment in life. Expectations - Reality = Level of Disappointment. The higher the expectations, the lower the reality, the higher the level of disappointment. At the time, I started managing my expectations and found that my disappointments decreased as I started laying aside my expectations. I have been reflecting upon that time in my life as I prepare to encounter a weekend that is often fraught with expectations and subsequent disappointments: Mother's Day weekend. Like so many other holidays, Mother's Day is hyped up by society. Don't forget to buy your mom a gift and a card and get her flowers and take her to brunch. If you forget or don't then you must not really love your mom. That's the message our society speaks and the expectation is set. And there's another underlying message that's spoken: if you aren't a mom, your value is somehow less. Society