12 times. i use the word "expect" 12 times.

me: "geez dad! why did your stupid ancestors decide to move to lame, unhappy america anyways?"
dad: "religion."
me: ".... oh... right... ok then."

____________________

me: "hey nicky! guess where the happiest place in the world is."
nicky: "fiji!"
me: no.
nicky: "australia?"
me: "nope. denmark."
nicky: "really?"
me: "yep."
nicky: "hu."
me: "apparently it's because they have low expectations."
nicky: "isn't marijuana legal there?"
me: "apparently it's because they have low expectations and weed."

____________________

____________________

about a week ago i was cornered by someone at work- we'll call him "crazy pants"- who wanted to know what i thought was going to happen with our company's website and if i thought we needed a "big picture person" and didn't i think he'd be great in that capacity? and then crazy pants started talking about how his life hasn't turned out like he'd expected it to and that's why he relates to my boss because obviously my boss's life hasn't turned out as expected either.
later that same night i was catching up on the phone with one of my favorite people of all time and as we finished up i said one of my awkward phone fillers like, "it's all coming together" or "it's gonna happen" or whatever it is i say because pauses in phone conversations make me uncomfortable and she said, "you know, i've been waiting for things to come together and they never do... my life is so not turning out how i expected it to."
fair enough.
i quickly commiserated. afterall, my life isn't turning out the way i expected either. but when i got off the phone i thought about it and that's not necessarily true because i don't honestly know what i expect my life to be. for the last few years it seems like i'm more focused on what i think other people expect my life to be and, regardless of whether or not my assumptions are valid, i use those assumed expectations as my measuring stick.
and, big surprise, most times i fail to meet those expectations.
i don't believe the key to happiness is lowered expectations. obviously. but i do believe surrounding myself with false expectations causes a lot of my discontent.

i don't know.
feedback?

____________________

this commercial continually makes me laugh.
now, you might think this has nothing to do with what i just wrote but you'd be wrong because it takes place in norway. which is scandinavian. like denmark.
totally applicable.