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Expect less
Managing my own expectations has always been a battle. More times than I care to remember, I try to do it all. I try to add another item to the to-do list, I try to do more and more. It’s not that I’m trying to overburden myself, it’s that if I see a to-do list with only a few things on it and I feel like I’m not trying.
There is something weirdly fulfilling about trying to do as much as I can in a day. When I see a full to-do list and think about what life will look like when I’ve completed those things. I’m taken by the idea of being the best version of myself.
But over the years, I’ve come to learn that the feeling is fake. It’s a way for me to pretend like I’m productive. To feel good about a thing that is yet to happen. It’s a way for me to over-egg the day and feel better about myself.
These days, I’m getting better at accepting less. Of expecting less. Of accepting that I can’t do it all today. I won’t click my fingers and all my problems are fixed. It’s taken me a while to realize that things, all the jobs on my list, take much longer than I think they might. And that is their beauty. Good things come with effort and patience. We were never meant to conquer it all today, if so, what of tomorrow?
So yes, I expect less. I frequently try to make my list shorter than longer. It’s not accepting defeat or lowering my ambitions, it’s an…
