Let's face it, we've all felt disappointed by 2020. Some of us have felt disappointed by plans, trips, and events getting cancelled. Some of us have felt disappointed in our body and maybe with what the scale says. Most of us are ready to call it quits for the rest of the year. Chalk it all up to one big L and just move on to 2021 where we tell ourselves that things will get better.
That's the story we're all telling ourselves, it's just a bad year, it'll be better next year. Hate to be the one to break it to you- but it won't. Until we start to take a little bit more ownership in our personal expectations, we will continually be disappointed. Big deep breath- exhale. Now, read that sentence again.
It is true that this year has been weird and uncomfortable and even scary at some points. However, we cannot keep falling victim to unexpected circumstances. What if we used the last two months of this year to change our perspective, our expectations, thus undoubtedly changing the outcome.
What if we looked back on this year saying, wow, I did this and that despite it being hard. Or maybe, that was the year I xyz and it was crazy because there was A LOT going on... go me!. You see, it's all about expectations. The bar for this year is pretty low, however, we are entering the holiday season. Which is notorious for leaving us feeling blue and disappointed because of unmet expectations.
There isn't a right or wrong answer to this exercise. It's more so the principal of taking inventory of your life- where do you feel lesser than or inadequate right now? Why? What can you do today that changes that? And why were you putting it off until next year?
Let's think of the things that we are putting all of our hopes and dreams into- maybe a goal weight, maybe an event, maybe a new year, maybe a new thing you want to buy. Now let's reevaluate, maybe voice it to a friend or family member, and reimagine what your life would look like if you removed some significance from it. A-hem, relieved yourself and your loved ones from unattainable expectations.
It's not that having expectations is a bad thing. It's actually great- even ideal for most aspects of our lives. The danger is in the unspoken. You know that feeling that you sometimes get on your birthday? Maybe you're really wanting to wake up to flowers or a text from that special someone. Maybe it's a small hope of your family remembering that you really wanted a new pair of earrings. Then low and behold, the day is running out of time and you didn't get any of those things. Is it just me or has this entire year felt like one big bad disappointing birthday?
You see it's not really about the things you didn't get. It's that you didn't feel seen or known. You wanted something, but you didn't say it, and you expected it to still happen. So what's the conclusion to this analogy? START VOICING YOUR EXPECTATIONS! Our loved ones can't read our minds! Again, let's start taking some ownership over what we want. Then let's go out and GET IT!
I know this all seems a little deep for a causal Wednesday. But, we're in such a pivotal time of the year that's going to define how we eventually chalk it all up. Let's use today to take ownership, make some new goals, take some small steps, and rethink our expectations a little bit. We can do this friends! In fact, we were made to do this!
Happy Tracking friends! Let's do this!!