Do we expect too much?

For the past 3 weeks, I've gone to a meditation class.  You're probably wondering, why do I need a meditation class.  Afterall, I AM a yoga teacher so I should already know how to meditate right?  Well, while I'm familiar with the concept of meditation, there's a HUGE difference between knowing something and actually doing something.  Meditation happens to be one of those thing for me.  I know about it and the wonderful benefits of it, yet I never really take the time to sit still long enough to practice it.  It's a real challenge for me to sit completely still and clear my head of everything.  There is one topic that keeps coming up in our discussions:  expectations.  In sanskrit we call it raga.  Raga means making demands.  It's one of the four branches of avidya I referred to earlier.  We expect certain things from our jobs:  that we'll have one in the morning, we'll get paid on time, have healthcare benefits for ourselves and family members.  We expect things from our partner:  that they're faithful, trustworthy, supportive of us in our time of need.  We expect things from our friends:  that they're good listeners, share similar likes & dislikes, provide a shoulder to cry on, have something positive to say when everything else seems to be going wrong.  The list can go on & on.........What happens when our expectations aren't met?  We get upset, angry, even depressed because things don't go the way we planned. 

How do you let go of  your expectations?  We can't control what others do, say, think or feel about us.  In order to FREE ourselves, we have to STOP making demands.  We have to STOP putting pressure on ourselves and others.  By detaching ourselves from the outcome we begin to appreciate all that is positive in our lives.  Once we do that, we have gained control over raga and can experience a sense of clarity.