Tuesday, April 16, 2019
Today’s Gift from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is:
To expect too much is to have a sentimental view of life, and this is a softness that ends in bitterness. — Flannery O’Connor
Having too high expectations is a set-up for disappointment. Expectations that are high lend themselves to a fantasy life, and reality can never match our fantasies. When we get hooked on the fantasies, somehow thinking they are reality, or should be reality, we are vulnerable to the hurt that accompanies the emergence of “the real.” Then we feel cheated—bitter: “Why did this have to happen to me?”
Having too high expectations was a familiar feeling before recovery. And it remains familiar to us, even now. Dreams and aspirations aren’t wrong. In fact, they beckon us on to better and greater things. But dreams of what we can become through responsible choices are quite different from idle expectations of what will or should be.
Every moment of every day opens the way to my aspirations that enhance reality. I will be open and receptive to reality and its gifts.
Hazelden Foundation
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