I’ve been reading about unreasonable expectations. These are the kind of expectations which can carry a person to extremes in their ideology, drain a person of energy, and create an idea of futility.
I try to fight unreasonable expectations, but sometimes they creep in. There is too much to do each day, so I’ve been seeking help in prayer to focus on priorities. Sometimes I fail at this. This weekend was a “fulfilling external expectations weekend” and it seemed like the more that I did, the more that other fires would spring up for me to put out.
I felt my patience and endurance spiral into a nosedive of misspoken words and crash on my bedroom chair at 10:00 at night with the thought, “I’m not succeeding.”
I went to bed. Today I understand better what I let myself do. In my good intentions, my desire to be exact, I marched after the banner of a person instead of the quiet voice that whispers, “Take My yoke upon you.”
Someday when all my thoughts, actions, and intentions are sifted and sorted, it will only matter how often I acted on God’s expectations. I just need to stay focused on what He expects of me, and not take so much upon myself, even if the words of others apparently have some power over my heart.
I didn’t think that I was one of those people who sought the approval of others, but I think that I am, and this is the source of my problem.
Here’s a quote I read in a Conference talk that I found applied to my situation:
“There are so many ‘shoulds’ and ‘should nots’ that merely keeping track of them can be a challenge. Sometimes, well-meaning amplifications of divine principles–many coming from uninspired sources–complicate matters further, diluting the purity of divine truth with man-made addenda. One person’s good idea–something that may work for him or her–takes root and becomes an expectation. And gradually, eternal principles can get lost within the labyrinth of ‘good ideas’
“This was one of the Savior’s criticisms of the religious ‘experts’ of His day, whom He chastised for attending to the hundreds of minor details of the law while neglecting the weightier matters.
“So how how do we stay aligned with those weightier matters?
“…When asked to name the greatest commandment, He did not hesitate. ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind,’ He said. ‘This is the first and great commandment.’ Coupled with the second great commandment–to love our neighbor as ourselves–we have a compass that provides direction for not only for our lives but also for the Lord’s Church on both sides of the veil.”
(By President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, of course, Ensign, November 2009)