Happy Friday! Make sure you Celebrate the Small Things with Vikki and friends with her weekly hop! I don't always have a chance to participate every week, but I'm jumping in today! Here's what I'm celebrating:
- I love November - my birthday month!
- I made it through my first week in my new job
- I had a great time visiting my grandma last weekend and hanging out with Elizabeth Seckman at another a nice little bookfair =)
- I have gotten some chapters done on Cradle Rock, but as expected, I have slowed down with the start of my new job - hope to get more done this weekend!
And now, I'm very excited to bring new buzz to Broken Branch Falls!
Tonja Drecker at Kidbits is posting a review today (that's something to celebrate too!)
Finally, here are Five reasons to lower your expectations...
- Not everyone thinks the same way we do, others have different priorities - don't expect to come first, things that are important to you may not be to others
- When you accomplish something, people will be happy for you, but don't expect them to throw you a party because they're secretly jealous
- Things go wrong - expect the worst, hope for the best, and do what you can - you'll never be disappointed
- Don't expect the bad things in life won't to happen to you. Generalizations apply to everyone:
- your spouse - we forget things, take each other for granted, and don't always communicate well
- your kids - they go through the phases
- your co-workers - they have their own lives and problems you have no idea about
- and especially ourselves - getting old sucks
- We all have bad days - don't expect to save the world, it's okay if not everything you wanted to get done gets done today
Secretly jealous - that's probably true.
ReplyDeleteGlad you're enjoying your new job. Hope it doesn't mess up your writing.
I love all of these Tara, especially #1 and #5!! Have a super weekend :)
ReplyDeleteHi Tara - glad the new job is going well; that you saw your grandmother and had time with Elizabeth ..
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday month .. always a good time to celebrate ... and adjusting our expectations to others - always a good idea ..
Cheers and you too have a great writing weekend - Hilary
Some wisdom in that list. Getting old does suck. Have a good weekend.
ReplyDeleteI kind of needed that tough love from the line: lower your expectations. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the secretly jealous part. Low expectations keep the stress levels also low.
ReplyDeleteFive reasons to lower your expectations--all good! And all so true, at least for me.
ReplyDeleteI wish I could hang with a writer friend. Glad you had a nice week. A new job can rearrange your time schedule. Good Luck.
November's my birthday month as well! Happy Birthday, whenever it is!
ReplyDeleteI can relate to the last one because usually everything doesn't get done.
ReplyDeleteGo November birthdays!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I like your slice of perspective, it's really important to keep stuff like that in mind.
Happy Birthday, Tara. Congrats on the job and so lovely that you spent time with your Grandma.
ReplyDeleteNovember is my birthday month too, I knew I really liked you! lol
ReplyDeleteExpectations are tough to manage, these are great tips! :)
You Had Me at Hello—Guest Post
Have a great weekend, too!
ReplyDeleteI guess if you're looking to others for your validation, then you should lower your expectations. I think we should expect more from ourselves, though (while being kind to ourselves).
Hi human, Tara,
ReplyDeleteSuch a fine, grounded, sensible pawsting, um, posting, my fine human friend.
You know I live my life with realistic pawsitive anticipation, rather than negative speculation.
Bad things happen and good things can happen from pawceived bad things.
Pawsitive wishes for a good weekend, to you and all your adoring fans, Tara.
Penny :)
Seeing you was the best part of the day! And I must say, Grandma does a much better selfie.
ReplyDeleteI like to dream big, but know that most dreams are made true with sweat, not really help from the people around us. They're all busy working on their own dreams :)
Sounds like you've been busy. Visiting friends and family and a new job. Hope your second week goes well and even better. :)
ReplyDeleteGlad the new job is going well! Sounds like you have been busy and you had a fun weekend too! Great reminders. :)
ReplyDelete~Jess
I love this, Tara. The secretly jealous thing is dead-on. I'm the type that goes above and beyond for my friends, so it seriously stings when I achieve something great and I don't get the same (some of my best friends are like this) but it's good because it teaches me to be a lot less of a "people pleaser" great post!!! :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a great post! I hope this week is starting off wonderfully for you. I've got something awesome to show you. Check your email! ;)
ReplyDeleteThis is a lovely post and yes, so true. Happy Birthday to you.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday Tara!! What lovely pictures:)
ReplyDeleteNumber 1 has been the hardest for me to cope with in life. But what it comes down to is we don't all think alike and sadly, my giving heart doesn't always get the same kindness back from people. You have to either accept those people and move on with them or learn to just let them go.
Happy Birthday to you in your Birthday month!! And yay for making it through your first week on your new job! :)
ReplyDeleteI have always lived by #3 for the expectations list. :) And I need to embrace #5 more.
Happy birth month!
ReplyDeleteI have to remember #5. No one else expects it, but as a mom I believe I should be saving the world. Every. Day. Exhausting right? I'll just retire my cape for a bit of cheese. ;)
Unleashing the Dreamworld
Ooh. So true. Thanks for the dose of reality, and for reminding us that tough things happen but that's normal and we can still persevere.
ReplyDeleteThe other reason not to expect people to throw you a party is that they expect you to throw them a party. If you don't want people to be jealous you've got to spread it around.
ReplyDeleteYup, those are all true. I did laugh at number 5 - we try to do it and it almost never works out!
ReplyDeleteAh, I LOVE those pics!
ReplyDeleteI've been thinking about you...when you have a moment, come over to my blog. I have something for you.
Writer In Transit
Glad your new job is going well!
ReplyDeleteYou're right that lowering your expectations makes things easier. It's so hard to do, though!
I think you are so right about lowering your expectations, or even have no expectations at all. I can say from experience that you can work really hard towards something, but the best things (or worst) in life are always unexpected. Happy Thanksgiving.
ReplyDeleteTrue words! We tend to think we are the only one with problems etc. We think we should somehow have everything we wish for:) Expect the worst and hope for the best. Agreed!
ReplyDeleteThat's a good list, Tara! I can totally relate to the kid phases right now, too. We're in the potty training phase, and I feel like it's never going to happen! He can just wear diapers until he's ten, right? =/
ReplyDeleteGreat pics of you & your grandmother and you & Elizabeth :) I'm always jealous when I see my fellow writer bloggers meeting each other :D Hope someday that I get to meet a lot of you guys in person as well.
ReplyDeleteGreat list, too. But I feel that I need to start pushing myself harder again, because my self about 3 years ago would be horrified by myself today ;)