Releasing Our Expectations Of Others (AR #64)

Today’s episode of Awaken Radio was inspired by a realisation I had recently around a relationship in my life. I had found myself feeling frustrated, disappointed and sad with how someone in my life was showing up, or shall I say, not showing up. A whole host of emotions were being stirred up, and at the time I was finding it hard to pin-point what it was all about.

I was sitting on my bed working through my feelings around this, when I was guided to a book on my bookcase. As I opened up the book, there was one sentence that immediately jumped out at me.

It read; “Allow people to be whoever they want to be.” I immediately stopped in my tracks. Something in these words resonated deeply and seemed to be the hidden clue to what I was feeling.

I sat and pondered over what I had just read, and I was hit with a huge realisation.

Suddenly I could see why I was feeling the way I was.

I had not been allowing this person to be who they wanted to be. Instead I was expecting them to be what I wanted them to be.

I was holding within my heart an idea of how I thought they should show up in my life, and seeing they had not met my expectations, and I felt sad and despondent.

This kick-started a series of realisations around the mental idea I had created in my mind about this person, which was not based on reality, nor on who this person was, or wanted to be. I had created rules in my mind about how this person should show up in order to make me happy, and I was projecting my idea of this person onto them as an expectation.

And so I decided to come on the podcast and discuss this further with you. I wanted to share how we can work through these expectations we have and how to know in ourselves if we need to let them go and make peace with how a person is showing up in our life, or if we need to find the courage to communicate our hidden desire and ask for what we want and need.

I hope you find this episode enlightening and supportive, and I look forward to hearing your feedback.

In this episode I discuss;

Why expectations are a sneaky form of control.
The importance of allowing another person to be whoever they want to be.
Why expectations are actually unspoken needs.
The power of clearly expressing your desires and wants.
My step by step process for working through your expectations and knowing whether you need to release them or communicate them.
The power of uncovering the core feelings behind your expectations.
How appreciation and acceptance of yourself and others can heal your relationships.