A few weeks ago I received an email that kinda rattled my cage…
It made me say “wait…what? Excuse me?
Then I realized the person who wrote the email had an expectation of me that I never offered.
They expected me to react and respond to their request in a way that I never intended.
It made me think about expectations we place on people.
We expect folks to respond
We expect folks to react
We expect folks to honor our request
We expect folks to be respectful
We expect folks to be loyal
We expect folks to be truthful
We expect folks to be honest
We expect folks to be trustworthy
We expect folks to be kind
We expect folks to be generous
We expect folks to be on time
We expect folks to be empathetic
We expect folks to be giving
We expect folks to be polite
We expect folks to be loving
We expect folks to be forgiving
We expect folks to be thankful
We expect folks to be sincere
The list can go on and on…
But are we ANY of these
Do we show these attributes?
Do we share these attributes?
Are we always prepared to be and do these things?
Our expectations of others can be overbearing and overreaching.
How we interact with each other determines what we should expect from each other.
Lesson:
Expectations can set us up for disappointments.
Meet people where they are…
‘Til Tuesday