Heidi posts on unrealistic expectations, how we have them, what they do to us, and how to deal with them. I have a lot more to say on this, but don't have my thoughts together on the subject yet. In the meantime, take a look at what she's got to say.

The difference between anticipation and the reality of a vacation or a relationship is not just the profusion of details that life insists on showing us. The difference also lies in the part of ourselves that we forget to include in the equation while we anticipate. We don?t plan a vacation realizing that our minds will wander from the backdrop of scenic perfection to the newspaper we forgot to cancel, the bill we forgot to pay, the work that will be waiting upon our return. Similarly, in anticipating a relationship, we forget to include in our mind?s eye all the quirky details of ourselves. We forget that we are sometimes impatient, sometimes moody, sometimes self-absorbed.


Or, perhaps we don?t even forget. Perhaps, in anticipating a vacation or relationship, we are simply hoping that the transformation of our surroundings will also transform us. Somehow, that beautiful ocean view will whisk us away from our hectic work schedule and all its associated worries and headaches. Somehow, that romantic new relationship will transform me from the moody, impatient person I am to the thoughtful, carefree person I wish to be.


And, perhaps that works. For a while.