When it comes to our daily frustrations, there is one common theme that tends to rise above the rest.
Other people.
Whether it's a colleague who rubs us the wrong way, a significant other we're fighting with, a friend or family member with a different viewpoint than us, or a random person on the internet, other people are regularly at the center of our frustrations.
Oftentimes our course of action is to try to change the other person. We will avoid or confront the colleague. We will try to make our significant other see how wrong they are. We will say things we don't mean or that we regret to our friends and family. And we'll let our blood boil from a person we barely know on social media.
But as you've already gathered, the problem is never the other person.
Seriously. Never.
The problem is that we construct expectations of other people. And when people don't live up to these expecations, we are the ones that feel the pain of unmet expectations.
The solution?
Release the expectations. It really is that simple. Easy? No. Simple? Yes.
When we release the expectations we have of other people, we meet them as they are. And when we think about it, isn't that exactly what we'd hope others do with us?
Comments
No posts