Expectations: We can only be who we uniquely are

Expectations

Last week I sat across from a dear friend and shared my expectations for our friendship.

Let me explain…

As I reminisced, reflected and considered what I would speak about at my father’s funeral last weekend (or as we called it, his Celebration of Life), it caused me to travel back many a year in my mind and consider our experiences together. From there I thought about other family members and my relationships with them and also considered my individual relationships with my friends and my beloved husband.

First I asked myself how I thought each person impacts my life and how.

I began writing these individual’s names in my journal and also my thoughts underneath each name:  One was a great listener and one, a person I can deeply trust. Another person always seems to call just when I feel like I need an encouraging word. And I noted that another is upbeat, never negative. There is a person in my life that is soft-spoken, empathetic and loving. And another person who is jovial, silly, always joking and lighthearted.

I wrote down their qualities, and their unique characteristics—and they each differed so much!  Yet, every single one of them had something that uniquely touched my life like the other’s haven’t or couldn’t.

When it comes down to it, we each have specific expectations for the relationships that we have with others.

Of course, to have a healthy relationship with someone, there must be trust, loyalty and love, for example. But do we over-expect these individuals in our lives to fill a void within ours—that they may not be capable of filling?

Much of what we expect from others, is due to a false-reality that we create. It’s giving someone a responsibility that they didn’t know they were given.

And that’s not fair.

We can only be who we each uniquely are. And we can only expect from others what they can uniquely give.

This week in The Practice of Living as we Intend podcast (episode 30), I share the rest of the conversation I had with my girlfriend that day.  It took humbleness to share my discovery with her—yet, it brought an instant flood of freedom and renewal to our relationship as we sat there together.

Expectations can lead to disappointment, frustration, unfulfillment, sadness and confusion and can cause us to not experience all the freedom, joy and beautiful depth that is available to us within our relationships.

I desire to deepen my value of the characteristics that each of my relationships have—because not one is the same.

And how could they be, as not one human being has the same perspective or gifts to offer the world.

Click one of the podcast links below and join me as we continue this journey of learning together. Perhaps this episode will have you rethinking your expectations and renewing bonds with the people you love most.

Big love!

xo~ Mwah

D

Be You and Thrive

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How to Listen to Episode 30

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Episode 30: Expectations—We can only be who we each uniquely are

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