Table of Contents
- Real-life example
- HIgh personal self-expectations
- Peter, Judas and expectations
- Expectations and relationships
Yesterday I wrote about high expectations. I wanted to share how it works in real-life today, mine.
Real-life example
I mentioned a few weeks ago how I’m facing major foot surgery. I’m scheduled for December 29th. I’ve had four foot surgeries and six prodeedures. (Obviously, a couple were doubled-up.) This upcoming one is the most major yet and at the minimum, I will be non-weight bearing on that foot two months, but more than likely three or more.
In the meantime, I’m flying solo, meaning no cortisone. Because of the deformities in my foot, I developed corns and callouses. They were extremely painful and I was off my feet for the most part for five days. I hated that.
I have a BUJO (Bullet Journal) where I track and keep track of a number of things, walking being one of them. It killed me to color five squares in red for those days, meaning I hadn’t walked those days.Then I thought to myself, “Wait a minute, self, where are your expectations? You can do better. Have you tried everything you can think of?”
How I used expectation to problem-solve
I got up yesterday morning and decided there were some things I could do. I won’t bother you with all my shenanigans but let’s say it involved corn pads, cotton balls, and band-aids but because of what I did, I was able to walk my two miles again. That may not sound like much to many of you, but it was everything for me. I was thrilled. I wish I could say my feet are still feeling good, but I’m still grateful.
HIgh personal self-expectations
Having high expectations doesn’t mean we think our life is going to be perfect every day in every way. It’s a mindset. “This is the day the LORD has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it.” That’s an expectation, isn’t it?
In case you’re wondering, yes, I have high expectations for myself as well; as a Christian, a wife, a mother etc. But it’s also yes, that because of my high personal expectations, I can get down on myself as well. But to me that’s much better than the alternative. I may experience failure but if I experience failure because I have expectations, that’s better than experiencing no failure because I had none.
Peter, Judas and expectations
The apostle Peter was such a person. He had high expectations for himself and we know he failed more than once. But we also know he walked on water. Jesus became frustrated with him more than once but who did Jesus build his church on, Peter?
Who had no expectations for himself? Who stood in the shadows devising evil? Judas, the betrayer.
You see having high expectations of life is what gives us hope and and the ability to look forward to getting up each morning. If we don’t have expectations, another word for hope, what do we have?
Expectations and relationships
Can it present problems in relationships? I think it makes for better relationships.. HIgh expectations mean we expect the best from others. People sense when we expect the best from them and that means they feel we hold them in high regard.
When people don’t meet our expectations, we have choices. To continue the relationship with our eyes wide open, or end it. Either way it’s better than meandering through the relationship with neither party experiencing the best of each other.
Have no expectations in a relationship means we will settle for less. I don’t read anything in Scripture that suggests this way of thinking. God expects much of us as well in our relationship with Him, and I find that encouraging. If God expects a lot of me, it means He sees me as worthy of His expectations.
I hope I made all this clear. Expecting good things makes sense to me as a person and a Christian. The word has gotten bad press. We hear people say if we expect less and then get more that’s a win. But it’s seldom we expect less and get more. Sure, there’s a danger of expecting much, receiving little, and then experiencing discouragement. But the expectation itself is rewarding in my eyes.
I refuse to go through life without expecting great things. Expecting a lot from life, and a lot from myself and others has kept me hopeful.
I hope you have a great rest of your week and God bless.
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How do we calm ourselves?
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