Turning Expectation Into Appreciation

When we enter this world, we are born with expectation as it is innate in the sense that as infants we expect either a diaper change or food when we cry so this is a belief that starts off as a survival technique, then we have to go to work to harness it as to not let our expectations become unrealistic. Not all expectation is created equal, therefore, it is imperative that we assess our own meaning that we attach to this with each relationship so that we can personally stay balanced, not offended, but in harmony. Remember that we are modeled this belief as well, however as an adult, you are responsible for yourself and you must act to change this belief if it is not serving you or those around you.

In business, there will be expectations surrounding the end the product that you will have to discuss with the business partner to ensure you are getting what you desire. Usually in business transaction there is not a lot of room for emotional attachment, unless and I caveat here, you do business with family or friends and those relationships are not balanced. When you are dealing with people you have an emotional attachment to, this is where expectations get blurred and most problems present themselves. Personally, I find turning expectation into appreciation the hardest in the walk with my husband as I am pretty good at meeting others & family members where they are, yet I am so invested in my relationship with my husband that I sometimes fall of the appreciation wagon and expect him to act just like me which that isn't realistic. For example, as I type this post I am sitting in Alabama while my family is back in Florida. I set my alarm clock this morning to make sure my husband woke up on time and I asked him to call me when they were in the car headed to school and he said he would call so I could talk to my girls. Well, I never got the call so I called him and he said he called twice. I am aware that there is poor cell coverage here on the farm, however, my expectation and what I would have done, would be to text him as I know that text will get through when phones will not ring. However, I had to quickly acknowledge that I had to appreciate that he tried to call, he got our girls to school on time, and was allowing me to be here to take care of some personal issues with my biological father, instead of doing what I would have done in the past which would be to berate him about not texting or and attempt to guilt tripping him on how this was not thoughtful. Before you react to a situation, ask yourself what does it change in a situation or how does it serve your relationship, if I were to say for example in my case get upset, place blame, etc. See it doesn't and because thoughts become things and we attract the energy that we are this is how one bad incidence can ruin an entire day.

What I have learned is that you can turn every situation into an act of appreciation no matter what the circumstance and when you appreciate the person first without expecting anything that he/she will surprise you usually by doing more than you would have requested. Remember appreciation is an act of service so put it first and the Universe will go to work to bring it back to you. With people that we have little to no emotional attachment to, it is easy to write that act off as an act of service as our Father above would want us to act, however, those we love the most we so oftentimes do not want to afford the same grace and service. We get into this mode that they are here to serve us not to be served. Don't get me wrong, we all deserve reciprocation especially from those whom love us the most however, our love and appreciation for them will be the factor that puts their reciprocation in flow. Once you get that you getting what you want starts with you, your beleifs, your actions, then the world opens up for you and as you can see from this mornings example even I have some work to do. We train people how to treat us and sometimes we have to do some retraining as we grow ourselves. Work hard at expecting nothing, appreciating the surprises, appreciating the opportunities whether it was to serve or if it was reciprocated, and intentionally try to meet everyone including spouses and family where they are as with the same grace God gave you. This will allow you to embrace this abundant life we are so richly bless with here for a short time. John Assaraf said, when you can turn expectations into appreciation, then you are wealthy and he was not referecing just money so ponder this as I close.