STRESS BUSTER #5: KEEPING EXPECTATIONS REASONABLE

REASONABLE EXPECTATIONS, to me, are about flexibility. If I already have a picture of how things should turn out, I stand a good chance of being disappointed. How much more fun life is when I’m willing to wait to see what an outcome might be. When I’m willing to be surprised. When I’m willing to hope for the best and plan for the worst.

WHEN I’M WILLING TO DO THIS, I’m not only more flexible . . . I’m also more observant. When I keep an air of expectation, I have an attitude that allows new ideas to flow more easily into my world. An attitude that makes gratitude feel natural, not forced as if it belongs only in that time slot designated for evening prayers. Instead, it runs willy-nilly through the day, leaving a trail of happiness.

FLEXIBILITY INVITES GOD to take a hand in my life. Lets Him decide how to solve a few of the problems I’m tired of dealing with.

I MUST EXTEND REASONABLE EXPECTATIONS to people too. It’s not my place to decide what my spouse or friends should be or do. I don’t get to decide how people treat me. Early in 1776, George Washington declared, “ . . . we must make the best of mankind as they are, since we cannot have them as we wish.” He had every reason to be disappointed in his ragged and undisciplined troops, but he had no time to waste with how things weren’t. He had too much to do. For more than seven years he pursued a job he hadn’t asked for and hadn’t wanted.

WHENEVER I GET UPSET OVER how things are, or, more often, are not, I remember Washington and his faith that the Almighty was in charge. How much more he accomplished with reasonable expectations than I ever have by concentrating on one of those over-the-top results I sometimes expect.

I REALIZE THIS IS ALL CONTRARY to most motivational speeches I’ve heard, but I don’t care. I prefer being surprised by God to anything I can do on my own!

You’re blessed. Be a blessing!