Today we’re going to talk about how our attitude can affect the amount of stress that we’re under. I actually believe that you can evaluate your happiness literally into an equation and here’s that equation. I didn’t make it up. It is happiness = reality/expectation.
Sometimes we have an idea of the way something should be. And if we’re so focused on that expectation, when something happens in our lives, that’s different from that, then unexpected thing can affect our happiness.
What Happens If Our Expectations Are Off
For example when I was a kid, I used to think that I used to love cars and I used to think the most fantastic car in the world was a Lamborghini. And let’s imagine for a moment, if, if I believe that the Lamborghini was the only vehicle that was ever worth driving, and then we get to real life and I realize a Lamborghini just might not be as realistic of a goal for me, that really can be a source of frustration or unhappiness. If I unrealistically felt that a Lamborghini would is the only car that would work for me.
Work Expectations
Let’s also imagine if I go to work and I have these expectations of about how work should go, exactly how everyone should behave or talk to people or treat people or what my job description looks like. Let’s say I have this very specific expectation, but the reality is something different than that. Then work is going to be a source of unhappiness. Or imaging going home and you have this idea that kids should be perfect. And in reality, kids are not perfect then kids can be a source of unhappiness. We can apply this to our partner, or any other aspect of our lives.
Same thing with our spouse, friends, financial situation etc. And so, so we need to look at the expectations that we have. How close are they to reality? Because if those expectations are really far apart than what is real, then we’re going to be a whole lot less happy. We’re going to be under a whole lot more stress and that’s going to have a huge impact on our health.
What Can You Do.
So today let’s look at our expectations compared to what is reality. And let’s see if there’s something that we can do to give ourselves a little more happiness. Change those things that you can change, and adjust your expectations for those things that you can’t. It will impact your life and health today.
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