Who expects what from you?

Who expects what from you?

Posted: 22 Jun 2011 02:55 AM PDT

From your mom to your best friend to your office mate -- all sorts of people have expectations of you.  Some of those people (your best friend, your significant other...) you choose.  Some of them (your office mate, your mom, your kids...) you don't.  But all of them have expectations of who you are and what you should do.

Ok.  We're going to have to set aside the moms and kids of the world.  You're stuck with them and you won't change them -- so they are a discussion for another day.

Let's focus on the people you are choosing to share your life with.

If it's a given that they have expectations of you (and I think it is), are those expectations pushing you to be the best you you can be?  Or are those expectations letting you sit in run-of-the-mill-is-good-enough land?  Are those the kind of people to best support you in the HUGE change of bringing more mindfulness into your life?

Are you mindfully choosing to spend your time with people who are encouraging you to move out of your comfort zone?  Or are they holding you back and letting you feel good about staying status quo?

You won't get anywhere you choose to be by staying status quo.  The world will move on around you while you stay still -- you will end up somewhere else by default (and it will be a place undetermined by you).

I expect better of you.  I expect you to mindfully and actively choose what you want to eat, how you spend your free time, and who you choose to spend it with.  I expect you to understand you are worth putting the time and effort into.  I expect that you choose to spend your time reading this blog because you see there is a more choice-oriented way to live, you want to live that choice-oriented life, and you need some help.

Good for you!

I expect you to change your choices today to align with your long-term goals -- because I believe you can.

As for the others in your life, you will need to decide how they can best help you forward.  And if they can't?  Maybe you will need to make some different choices about them.