In an article entitled “How Expectations Undermine Our Relationships and Happiness” by Jen Picicci and featured on tinybuddha, Jen highlights, through her own experience, how the expectations we place on others can lead to an automatic response in us, thereby creating negative thoughts and feelings instead of realistic ones. It really becomes about what we set up as our “hoped-for response,” in which we place an expectation on someone, placing great trust that they will follow through. She notes, “Hoping for the outcome you desire is one thing, trying to force it and being overrun with negative thoughts and feelings when it doesn’t work out is another.”
She goes on to suggest some ways to counter our expectations of others including an acceptance piece; reality being that we can’t change or predict another person’s behaviour, as well as a mindfulness piece in which we try and focus on the present moment as a way to focus our own thoughts and beliefs on what we can control; ourselves.
To read the full article: https://tinybuddha.com/blog/how-expectations-undermine-our-relationships-and-happiness/
Jenn Picicci is an artist and teacher of inner guidance: https://www.jenpicicci.com/
Photo credit: http://Photo by Lisa H on Unsplash