Expectations

Set your sights low.

My father, who is very wise, taught me years ago to manage my expectations.  This has helped me foster happiness in my everyday.

If you set your expectations too high, you will be disappointed.  If you expect your spouse or significant other to be perfect, you will be on the lookout for someone else in no time, and may forfeit a perfectly good relationship with a quality person.  This can happen if TV and movie romances are your ideal of what a relationship should look like.

If you expect to be happy with a six-figure job, you may forfeit what life can offer you with a $45,000 salary.  If you expect to be happy when your kids are launched and successful, you may wait a very long time indeed for happiness to come to your doorstep.

But, if you manage your expectations, and make your sights moderately for when you will be satisfied, you can expect to be happy in so many more circumstances.  Your spouse or significant other won't be perfect, but they will be perfect for you.  Your job, if it covers the bills and you live within your means, can be a source of play and experimentation for such things as building relationships, achieving excellence in your craft, and it will be a journey that has so many more dimensions.

Let the common be enough.  Make your goals attainable with moderate effort.  It will add to your happiness.

Manage your expectations.