Blog Hopping – Lessons Learned!

It’s been three whole months since my last contract ended rather suddenly. To tell you the truth, the manner in which it happened caught me totally by surprise. Since then I’ve been chasing my tail trying to find work. Also, our summer here in Ireland seems to have mirrored my attempts at finding work… bleak!

You may wonder what this all has to do with blog hopping. I was sitting in the lounge, looking out at the pouring rain and thinking about my lot in life. I was also trying to catch up with what was going on in the lives of other bloggers, many of who I call blog buddies because of their unwavering support.

The latest post by Madeline struck a chord. Our expectations can do so much damage, to others but mostly to ourselves. My expectations have been dashed (repeatedly) in the last months so, Madeline’s words really hit home. The results of reading her thoughts? Exchange expectation with anticipation.  What did become a little clearer to me was the fact that my expectations of myself and others was hurting my family. I was dwelling far too much on the disappointment of not getting results that met my expectations.

My preoccupation with expectations of others and their often idle promises left me ratty at times. A ratty me is not good for harmonious family interaction. OK, so in the days to come I’m not going to allow lofty expectations to cloud my vision. Thanks to Madeline for getting me to think a little more objectively.

Right… on to other matters. A blog hop won’t be a blog hop if I didn’t randomly select the next stop. I do this by clicking on any of the “likes” and going with the flow. I wasn’t disappointed when I found words of inspiration at purplerays. Inspiration comes in many forms. Sometimes, a few words shared can mean so much. Yes, our patience and faith can be tried but at times, when we’re least in control, a simple prayer will be all that’s needed.

We should watch out that our expectations don’t drive us to the edge… rather, let gratitude drive away the negative impact of unfulfilled expectations.