Throughout several different experiences, I have learned an essential life lesson. I learned that expecting good things to happen and expecting people to be considerate and kind is just setting myself up for disappointment.

Good things do not just happen, and often when they do they happen over time. Also, most people do not have big hearts and not everybody thinks the same way. You can treat others with an infinite amount of kindness and they'll never reciprocate that back to you.

Yes, it sucks but unfortunately, there is not much that can be done about it. People are stubborn and are set in their ways. The only thing that I have found that I could do to prevent high expectations from others is by not having any expectations at all.

Looking back upon most of my life and different interactions I've had with other people, I finally realized how I always had high expectations of others and their behaviors. I lived in a fantasy world where I believed that people were genuinely nice to one another.

Even though people were not always kind to me, I genuinely believe that humans in general had big hearts and were genuinely kind. Even though many people did not enjoy my company as I enjoyed theirs, I felt as if people appreciated me as much as I appreciated them even if they had a difficult time expressing it. Boy was I wrong.

Unfortunately, I realized that this fantasy world I was living in was just that, a fantasy. The expectations I had ultimately led me to disappointment and I had to face the truth; and boy, did that suck.

After a lot of thought, I realized why I had this mindset that other people were genuinely good at heart in my brain. As young children, we are taught to "treat others how we want to be treated." Also known as the Golden Rule, "treating others the way we want to be treated," is an idea that preschoolers remember but soon diminishes from people's brains as they age.

I know people change with age, but maybe if people could find it within themselves to let go of anger, to forgive others, use their ears to listen, to use their manners and to help others in times of need, the world would be a better place. These might sound like easy tasks, because they are. Yet, most people these days don't follow them.

It's not as hard to be nice as people might think. An act of kindness could instantly turn somebody's day around. Sadly, even though I have longed for, and expected people to treat me with this level of kindness, it rarely, if ever happens.

Yes, I believe that people could be kind if they wanted to be but I do not think that people are perfect nor need to act like they are. I'm not perfect myself. I just believe that there is no reason people should be upset over having high expectations that others will be nice to them.

If people cannot find it within themselves to be kind, protect yourself from heartbreak and despair by not expecting them to treat you so nicely. But, maybe if people realized how important it is to be kind to other people we could have expectations again without always being disappointed.