(Not so) great expectations

Expectations…

They can sabotage our thoughts and our actions with their lingering presence.

They are the irritating mosquito buzzing around our ear at night that just won’t quit.

They are that merciless song that gets stuck in our head; we try to ignore, but it just keeps persisting!

They loom, they loiter, they lurk – suffocating us with their relentless ‘shoulds’.

They are the ultimate killjoy.

Some may say they can act as effective motivators. They can provide us with some (often arbitrary) guidelines to live by, or an (often unrealistic) benchmark to aim for. But more often than not, expectations really only serve to limit us, and those around us.

And if we let them, they can take over.

We begin to wrap our self worth up in these expectations. The weight of them can become all too much to bear. And we begin to lose ourselves. We begin to lose sight of the fact that we are enough just as we are. 

Listen deeply, and give yourself permission to shed those expectations that are not supporting you, or keeping you safe, or allowing you to be YOU.

Because expectations are really only just one version of our story.  Maybe there is another path you can take.