Don't Be Afraid

Duh?? But I thought... Alright.I JUST GOTTA SAY THIS:

Don't be afraid when your expectations don't turn out the way you hope they will.

I just saw something that said: "Expectation is the root of all heartache."

First of all, I feel sad for the person who said that because they really must be in a lot of pain. My prays go out to them. But, that being said, this statement just makes my blood boil..
Everywhere we turn, we're told in some capacity that when we do not expect anything from anyone then we are never disappointed. This may be completely true, but it is also completely ridiculous! Listen, people, we were all designed to take risks, don't you think? Nobody can walk through life not having any expectations of anyone. It does not work that way. We are people. We have hearts and minds and ideas and creativity. We have emotions and intelligence... and spirits that go on forever!
I hope I sound like I'm bursting into song here because my heart is on fire!
This is the fire of righteous indignation.

Listen, our expectations don't let us down. If we never expected anything from anybody, we would never expect anything from ourselves either. The people involved in our expectations usually let us down...not the fact that we expected something to begin with. We are created to relate to others and connect with them. Even the most reclusive of us are designed to connect with others. The receiving of joy requires safety and trust. Trusting another person always requires a risk. Let's face it, there are always "blind spots" in life. There are unknowns. The fact is, if we never got hurt in life, we would never know any true joy, because there would be no difference. Translation: Nobody can really live like Penny Lane in "Almost Famous." (If you've never seen that movie, do so.). The fact is, we will get attached to people and sometimes we will get hurt. Now, sometimes we get hurt deeply and it takes us longer to rise again. That's okay. This is just another part of being human. It's not about getting to a place where we kinda float through life and don't feel anything anymore.

If you expect the best out of a person or a situation, and you don't receive it, you've only made a mistake in a loving way. Besides, you still know what you hoped for, right? You just did not happen to get it in the place you were looking. So you recover and you keep looking! Be patient with yourself, recover, and keep looking. The expectations are not the source of heartbreak. Your expectations are what remind you of the goal when your heart does break. The fact thar we hurt at times can mean we're sensitive to people and what they go through. Besides the principle of empathy includes having empathy for ourselves too. Those of us with AS or Autism tend to be too hard on ourselves anyway, amen? I think just like most things take practice, it also takes practice to learn to forgive (both ourselves and others). Remember, what we expect out of ourselves tends to be what we expect out of others too. Expectations are good. They are proof of our requirements, both of others, and of ourselves. They are proof of limits and boundaries. They are proof that we have respect for ourselves and for others, and that we have the anticipation of love. Without such things, why are we living and breathing?
"To thyne own self be true."-- Shakespeare.