Friday, February 27, 2015

Dealing with Other People's Expectations

I have reached the point in my life where others' expectations just don't concern me much anymore.

At the most basic level, I care only about my own expectations of myself (and I have to evaluate even those on a regular basis, to make sure I'm not being too hard on myself or too lazy), what my wife expects of me (since she is half of my own whole) and what I perceive to be God's expectations of me - but, since I am more of a grace / Atonement kid of guy than a strict obedience / damnation kind of guy, I don't tend to worry as much as some people do.

Planning is important; anticipation of possibilities is important; worry is harmful; unrealistic expectations can be damaging and even damning.

I've come to accept that my best effort is all I can give, so that's all that I can expect myself to give - and that means, sometimes, letting go of something or even taking a nap to revitalize is all I can give.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Amen, Ray. You go with that nap.
I think I'm a much nicer person and a whole lot easier to live with since I've been developing along these lines-mostly due to debilitating illness on my part. Now I just want others to cut themselves and others some slack so they don't end up like me-life nad health are there to be enjoyed as well as endured.
And, other people's problems? That's exactly what they are.