This is not an April Fool's Joke

This morning as I was lying in my warm and cozy bed and just starting to become aware of the sounds around me, I heard a plow. Yes, I heard the scrapping noise of the snowplow going by our house and knew that this meant only one thing. Snow. To be fair, snow in upstate New York in April is not something that is outside of the norm but you see I have an expectation for what April 1st was to be like today. I had expected this morning to be awoken to the sounds of the chirping robins, to open the window to the warm and earthy spring air, and to be able to head out to the bus stop with Avery without boots and a winter coat on. And this had me thinking about expectations and how if we aren’t careful they can they can cause disappointment and discontentment. So this morning I had a choice to be a total grump and be disappointed by what Mother Nature brought us but I chose to not go there. You see you have a choice in how to react when your expectations are unmet. So this morning, I sat down at my alter (yes, I have a “woo woo” alter) and closed my eyes and thanked G.U.S (god, the universe, and spirit) for this beautiful day. The sun was out, there was a vase of daffodils on my bedside table, I had a cup of warm tea, and I sat there and thought about all of things that I was grateful for. And then when the bus pulled away this morning, I took the dog for a quick walk and took some photos of this beautiful morning. In choosing to focus on the positive and what I was grateful for, I was able to release the negative feeling of my unmet expectations. This week, I encourage you to take a look at some of your expectations. Are they realistic? Are they your expectations or those of someone else’s? And if you encounter an unmet expectation this week, how are you going to react to it? Ultimately, we do not have complete control in our expectations being met or not met but we do have complete control in how we react. Remember, life is not just what happens to you; it’s more about how you react to life. Much love, Beth