Member-only story
Learning to Personalize Your Expectations
Why you need to do what works for you
About one and a half years into my marriage, and six months post-partum, my husband and I found ourselves dealing with a block of sorts. His business was going through the biggest block he had ever experienced. I watched Instagram couples take artfully crafted pictures of their partners helping them handle the kids. You can fill in the blanks.
Oftentimes, we tend to feel as if life has a standard that we simply work to fulfill. Flourishing at twenty-five and having a home by the mere age of thirty — it’s messaging that we see thrown on movies and social media. While it is insanely unreasonable, our exposure to these sentiments can have us leaning into their rationale. If he is doing it, why can’t I? If everyone’s doing it, I must be the odd one out!
This obsession with conforming can feel like a rat-race. Before you know it, breathing becomes difficult. You find yourself living to please your unrealistic expectations.
So, at a point when our conversations were starting to go into circles (and put my heart into absolute turmoil), I made a quick vibe-check. I started to cross-examine myself whenever I felt like the world was beginning to burn.
