The Lowering of Expectations: Why do I care so much about people who don’t care about me?

I actually was a big Mad TV fan back in the day. It’s cool that Ms. Swan became Lois on Family Guy. It’s also maddening how few people realize that. Hm.

Written before about the expectations of friendship, which is an article that oddly performs well for me, and as I’ve gazed at my life over the past six months, I feel like my expectations are generally too high, and I need to lower them.

That sounds bad on surface, so let’s try to explain what I mean and not play the victim card. It might be a tricky line to walk. I will endeavor.

First step: People in your life are seasons. That’s a Kanye lyric, but it’s true, which is rare for a Kanye lyric. Adulthood gets divergent in a million different ways, notably kids vs. no-kids and where you settle for career. There are other factors, which sadly now include politics, vaccinations, culture wars, etc. But people grow and grow apart in different ways. I’m 40, no kids. Most people around me at 40 have an eight-year old. If I had an eight-year old right now, I’d potentially have some dad group or whatever. I don’t. That’s a divergence. That’s how life works and is. Maybe when you were growing up, your best friend lived down the block. You still might be best friends, but she might be in Sacramento and…