Hey, I appreciate you!

We get through life by putting trust in others. We have a certain standard that we hold each other to, and expect people to live up to this responsibility. It’s a rather interesting concept to grasp when you really think about how we rely on so many strangers in our day-to-day lives.

Every day, we expect the barista to make our coffees the way we order them, our fellow drivers to obey traffic laws and our teachers to help our children learn. We trust the electric company to light our homes, our servers to bring us food and our cab drivers to get us where we need to go. We simply trust that people will do what is expected of them.

Maybe it’s because we implicitly trust so many strangers in a 24-hour period that when someone we love lets us down, it hurts that much worse. Whether it’s a parent not stepping up to the plate as a grandparent or an ex not paying their child support or a best friend leaving you to clean up a mess they created, it just flat-out doesn’t feel good when someone you think you should be able to trust leaves you dumbfounded.

You know where I’m headed with this, right? It’s time to look within ourselves to figure out why the sting of disappointment is so strong. Here’s the thing: It’s so much easier to let ourselves expect things from people instead of being grateful for what they do. The minute we set an expectation for others is the minute we take ourselves off the hook — and when we’re off the hook, we’re no longer accountable to ourselves. This gives our ego an opportunity to make excuses and allows others to make us feel sad and disappointed.

Instead, graciously thank those around you for going above and beyond and focus on the positive. That awesome barista, your child’s teacher and your diligent cab driver will sense your genuine and gracious attitude immediately, so let them know how appreciated they really are. You’ll find yourself appreciating more people in a day than you thought possible!