How to Meet and Conquer Unmet Expectations

For several years the 4th of July holiday has been a fun event spent with family enjoying water, food, fun and fellowship. One that we eagerly anticipated. But this year, our annual gathering had to be cancelled. We were disappointed, but...the anticipation of some out of town family coming for a visit and a gathering to cook out helped ease the disappointment. But then, a family emergency arose and cancelled our family coming in. Another disappointment, but a small gathering may still be workable. Then others had different plans and it looked like no one could come, so we decided to call that off too.

My anticipation for a fun holiday was plummeting. Sweet hubby wouldn't know for sure if he would be off from work until the day before which hindered making any alternate plans. It looked like I would be home alone for the holiday when I longed to be around lots of people to celebrate. Left feeling bummed, but trying to keep a positive outlook. We all know that disappointment and unmet expectations are simply a part of life. It is how we face and react to them that counts.

There is a couple from church we know that are new to the area. They have no family in the area and are making friends in the community. They asked what we were doing for the holiday, we loosely mentioned our hometown fireworks display may be something we could do together. Embracing an opportunity, we invited them to our home for dinner then to fireworks. They accepted and this allowed for some new friendships to be deepened. We enjoyed dinner, fireworks and getting to know them much better. Things don't always go according as planned, but keeping our focus open to other opportunities instead of disappointment can bring great blessings.

Unmet expectations will come at us many times. Expect to be disappointed, irritated, rattled, have plans that fall through. Changing our perspective on the situation can change everything. Seeing what you do have will allow you to overcome what you don't have.

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