Till then,

Jean

We don’t progress without striving to “win”, but we have to learn to strive for the right goals. I think everyone should refer to the Serenity Prayer when we are evaluating our goals: God, give me the patience to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Living our lives is how we learn to tell the difference. Having wise and supportive friends to discuss it with makes it easier to see beyond our personal blind spots.

@ George – Thank you again for your help. It really is refreshing to see some of our regulars coming to visit my site! And yes you are fortunate in that regard. I am learning to be more like that as time goes on…

@ Barbara – Love seeing you around. I still love your community of bloggers and I am glad you are still part of the Insight Writer community. I love your thoughts on acceptance and being optimistic and I share your thoughts about how we expect more from children. I think adults would be a lot happier with kids if they were more accepting of the fact that they are kids! haha.

@ Milli – Thanks for swinging by and for your thoughtful comment. And glad I could help you with a little reminder. And I agree, its good to hang out with other optimistic enthausiastic people.

Cheers,
Jeremy

I like to get reminders on this issue as I process it in my own life. Your writing on this subject has some extra oomph because you shared about the issue from your own bag of issues (as opposed to a self-help book that might not be as personal).

Being a person who holds high standards on herself, I have definitely tended to do that too in regards to other people. And this has caused me mucho stress and disappointment. My #1 cure for that has been to learn to have more fun–in life and in my writing career.

I’m also with Tumblemoose on who you hang out with. These days I surround myself with enthusiastic people: that way we swim in a big pool of enthusiasm and positive mutual support (with the occasional stumble, headache or complaint, but we help one another through it).

Tumblemoose is a case in point. I found your blog because George is a generous, fun writer who loves to help others and he recommended your blog. I’m happy I’ve learned to have such good taste in friends. :~)

Glad to be here! ~ Milli
.-= milliverstravels´s last blog ..Kissing the Lucky Frog =-.

I remember reading a book years ago about expectations we put on others. The author suggested we don’t put ANT expectations on others and/or how they perform or what they do. That way, we’re not setting ourselves up for disappointment. I took that as letting others “just be”. As I’ve experimented with that over time, I have found it helps me to accept others for who they truly are.

Although this can work good with friends and acquaintances, it’s difficult to practice with our children. For some reason, we seem to “expect” more from them. Hmmmm.

For me, happiness seems more of state of mind. Knowing how powerful our thoughts are and how we can choose what we think about, I tend to be more optimistic, thus feel happy most of the time.
.-= Barbara Swafford´s last blog ..How To Keep Your Blog Alive When Life Calls =-.

I always try to expect the best from people. Sometimes they disappoint but usually not. Some of it may have to do with who it is we attract into our lives. I think if we are naturally positive then those are the kind of folks we generally attract and therefore the percentage of disappointments go down.

Personally, I am *so* not a control person. I can lead, I can follow, I can get out of the way and I’m happy in all of those situations. I know I’m fortunate in that regard.

George
.-= Tumblemoose´s last blog ..Let’s help a friend build momentum =-.