Expectations Great and Small
"The success is not mine, the failure is not mine, but the two together make me" ~Great Expectations. We are each the sum of myriad parts, clamouring for attention. There are the scars and triumphs of childhood imparting their wisdom to the young adult who in turn uses those experiences to make yet more mistakes or further achievements, and so on. Once we hit middle age, you'd think that we'd be set up in some time-weary way to avoid major issues and enhance favourable effects. That's not how it goes unless we can separate our emotional reactions from our logical intuitions. People trigger people - and understanding those triggers is a mature way of coping with life as it presents itself. It has taken a long time to stop expecting things from others, or life in general. I do not expect anyone else to be who I think they are, or act in a way suited to my ideals. I do not expect success simply because I work towards it. This in itself is an expectation, but it is ...