I was recently playing in an adult soccer league – I was the oldest person out there and often competing against people half my age. I had to reconcile that there were things I used to be able to on the soccer field that I could no longer do. Was it hard or frustrating at times? Yes, of course. But it’s the reality of this stage of life. My expectations of what I could do had to change.
I recently have spoken to a number of moms who have felt overwhelmed because they recently just had a child or their kids were entering a new stage of life and they haven’t been able to keep with everything else on their plate.
A friend of mine who was in the midst of a move, was stressed because he was slacking in other parts of his life.
The common thread is that each person felt stressed, overwhelmed, or frustrated because they couldn’t do something they have done in the past. But in each case, their circumstances had changed – they had new or more things going on. So while their circumstances changed, their expectations for themselves didn’t change.
Holding ourselves to a certain standard isn’t bad. But often times when circumstances change, we need to change our expectations.
In the same way I can’t do the same things on the soccer field I did as a teenager, the season in life of you happen to be in now may dictate that maybe you can’t exercise as much … or maybe your house isn’t as clean as used to be … that’s okay.
So your challenge today is to examine your expectations for yourself in light of your current circumstances. It might be time to give yourself a break and change your expectations.
**When not on the radio, Eric works as a private practice counselor**
Photo Credit:Getty Images/Zdenek Sasek
