Expectations

Doesn't matter what stage of life you are in, there are always expectations: when you are a baby its to start walking and talking, when you are a teenager it is to gain some responsibility and do well in GCSE's, A-levels etc and when you are an adult I guess it is to be responsible, sensible blah blah blah...
And I hate it, I cant think of anything that doesnt have a bar set, a goal to reach, someone, somewhere expecting something from you... and if you don't deliver you are a let-down, an embarrassment, a failure. Sometimes you're met with anger, sometimes pity, sometimes nothing but either way - you cant help but feel under pressure to meet some kind of standard, a deadline, an attitude, a certain way of doing something.

So in the end sometimes it is easier to just give up. To say "screw this" and move on, walk away - trust me, Ive done that quite a few times but Ive learnt that the more you give up, the lower people's expectations get. And the lower people's expectations get the harder it is to impress them when you do do something that you are proud of, something you have accomplished because it is minor in comparison with what they expected, for you to flunk. Walk away a total failure and not even try.

Then again, expectations can be useful to some degree, if nothing is expected of you than you have nothing to prove, if a lot is expected of you it can encourage and motivate you to do well, achieve. Or it can go the other way and put you under so much pressure that you crack, you cant live up to the pre-set standard, the so-called "acceptable" crap.

Personally, I try to do what is expected of me, if I can muster the energy and have the will then sometimes I'll do more but to be honest? I don't really care anymore, doing the "bare minumum" is ironic seeing as that is exactly what I was asked to do. If you wanted more, than you should have said so. I try to live up to expectations but I'm not a mind reader, I can only interpret language and words, not telepathic signals.

So to all the parents, teachers and friends out there who have ever expected something from anyone. Dont. Expect them only to do what they can and are willing to and be satisfied with that, nobody makes the rules but in my opinion, do whatever you want to do, don't try and control other people by creating these hypothetical goals to reach, because most of the time - they wont mean anything.

Just something I feel strongly about,
Comment if you agree with me or disagree, no haters please, it is just my opinion :)
Saskia =)