It’s Thursday night and you’re getting ready for bed. It’s been a long week and you’re really tired, but tomorrow is Friday. So you know there’s light at the end of the tunnel, because tomorrow night is date night. A night out for the two of you to just relax, reconnect, and have some fun. You know that feeling you get? That feeling of excitement and anticipation. You go to sleep with great expectations for tomorrow. You spring out of bed a little easier in the morning, because no matter what today holds you have something to look forward to tonight.
Now put the brakes on, last minute change in plans, date night is canceled. How do you feel? There’s a pretty good chance you’re feeling disappointed. We’ve all felt disappointment at some time in our lives. Whether it be disappointment in our spouse, our children, or even just the circumstances in our lives at the time. Nevertheless the disappointment feels the same. We feel angry, let down, put off, unimportant, taken for granted, and sometimes bitter. Why do we have these feelings? Because we had expectations, and these expectations weren’t met.
What do we do with all this disappointment? We first ask ourselves if we’re relaying on someone else to make us happy, which is easy to do without even realizing it. Do we expect someone else to be able to read our minds? You bet we do. I have a mental picture of the garbage can in the kitchen overflowing. It’s that cereal box that is just barely balanced on top of all the other garbage and while your husband stands in front of it he asks, do you need me to do anything honey? Your mouth doesn’t even move, you just let your eyes glare down at the overflowing garbage can. Oh, what do you know, a light goes off in his head. Do you need me to take out the trash? Now the mouth opens and you say, actually I was thinking that maybe the garbage would just grow some legs and walk itself out. I mean isn’t sarcasm always the best answer? Even though it seemed very obvious to me, I expected someone else to read my mind. I’m disappointed because I naturally expect him to know what I need. Wouldn’t it be much easier to simply ask for what we need? That way there’s no room for confusion. Now the garbage is out and everyone is happy.
What is the moral of the story? We need to be careful we don’t have unrealistic expectations. The next time we’re tempted to say that we’re disappointed in someone, maybe we should instead say I’m disillusioned in you. Somehow my interpretation of reality may have been inaccurate. Now that’s a bitter pill to swallow.
Just a day in the life…
Ha ha ha.....it's so true!! Can't wait to hear what another mom faces in her day-to-day routines. I won't be laughing at you - it's with you! Send my love to your whole family! Ashley
ReplyDeleteMy Dear Roxanne, you could not of said it better. I have tried everything with your father,
ReplyDeletelaughter works the best. But often it takes a good long cry first. All my love.
Mom
Ashely it's funny how good it feels to know someone else is going through the same craziness. There is never a dull moment! Thanks for following the blog.
ReplyDeleteMom, I think dad seems to be in a better mood when he wears his neon yellow shirt that says yes we can...just a thought.