If there is anything to be feared about expectations, it is our tendency to put the power in the hands of others. To allow external influences to determine how we should behave and think, and what we should have or live with.
When we allow others or culture to ‘squeeze us into its mould’, we are at risk of signing up for a set of rules and laws rather than personal values and aspirations.
Instead we need to set our own expectations. To create our own story. To form our own beliefs about what will happen out of our beliefs and values.
For example, culture may say, “look out for number one or you will get nowhere in life”.
Friends may say, “you’re too generous. It’s your time now.”
But what do you say?
What are your expectations about a life of generosity and humility? Clear values and expectations are protector factors in life. They hold us to both standards and a way of living that allow us to look at ourselves every day in the mirror, as well as at the end of a lifetime and say, “I have lived true. All is well with my soul.”