great expectations

the other day, i was talking to a friend that has great expectations for her life. amazing goals and aspirations. this is one of the many things i love about her. she is extremely ambitious and is a goal setter. i am this way as well, but she started planning a little earlier than me.

my point is, this friend, was talking about how she wasn't where she expected to be in life. she was disappointed and frustrated.

i have been thinking about this and my question is: are we ever where we expect to be?

if you would have told me that i would be doing what i am doing now when i was younger, i probably wouldn't have believed it.

i'm in such a different place than i expected. in some aspects of my life, i would say i'm in a far better place than expected.

but what are these expectations we have of the future? of someday i will be traveling the world or someday i will have the job of my dreams?

do we grow complacent as we grow up? do we just change? or is it more of putting our priorities in order?

some people say that being content is bad. but on this subject that brings up more questions than answers, i would have to say that there is a strange balance in there somewhere. it's not a compromise. it's a creative solution that mixes your expectations and goals with real life.

it's actually pretty amazing how it happens. for me, it's brought me to a place that is a mixture of moments where the fairytale i dreamed of as a child is true and the reality of the world slapping me in the face come together in an odd mixture that makes me happy.

the key is enjoying the fairytale and responding to the slap in the face by being better.

oh i still have my great expectations and they keep me reaching higher. writing to do lists and goal lists. these expectations help us hope and plan for something more.

it's crazy how life can have you high on happiness one day and pulling out your hair the next. makes me grateful for the times of happy contentedness.

so to my friend with her great expectations: know that we all have these. they are our balloons that keep us looking up into the sky and if one of them pops every now and then, it's okay. god has a big helium tank that's there if we want it. it's there so we can fill up another balloon with our dreams.