Lately I've been thinking about expectations and the effect that they can have on how we go about our lives on a daily basis. They affect all aspects of life and all of our relationships, from professional to personal, and especially familial, and the expectations that we percieve or hold ourselves can skew our perception of the world.
How often do the expectations we hold about others and those that they hold about us actually align with reality?
False or unrealistic expectations can often lead to disappointment and confusion about why they weren't achieved. Without appearing to sound as if we should all lower our expectations of both ourselves and other people - because we shouldn't, especially when it's people we know well and care about - perhaps we should become a little more realistic in what we think can, and should, be achieved. Instead of expecting everyone to automatically become tolerant of others because the majority thinks that is a good idea, maybe we should start expecting that our systems of education and discouragement of discrimination be made more effective and that our representatives act accordingly to remedy any deficiencies in those systems.
