You've had a rough day.  Your tire blew out, causing you to arrive two hours late to work. To make matters worse, your boss gives you an earful when you walk through the door, after which you realize you left your credit card at the one-hour-away car shop while waiting for your vehicle to be serviced.  No sooner do you grab your phone in a huff to call the shop and see if anyone can track it down than your credit card company is calling you to verify if you made $1,250 in purchases at Saks Fifth Avenue.  We've each had some variation of the crappy day outlined above. And our only consolation is often the thought of going home to someone -- anyone -- who can cheer us up a little. Maybe it's our partner, roommate, or neighbor.  But maybe you've begun to notice a pattern of seeming indifferent to your distress. You always hope this time will be different -- that this individual will be there to listen, to say they know what you're going through. Unfortunately, though, ...

The reason we expect so much from people is because we would be willing to do that much for them. Unfortunately, though, reality doesn't always align with our expectations. And therein lies the problem: We have a tendency to anticipate that people will think and act like us in a given situation. When they fail to do so, however, we feel let down, if not betrayed. As painful as it can be, our partner, relatives. and close friends will not always act in our best interest. This could happen for a variety of reasons: They put themselves (or even someone else) before you. They don't realize just how much being there really means to you. Life gets in the way.  The important thing is not to take it personally, and the best way to do that is by not having unrealistically high expectations in the first place.  That's not to say that you shouldn't ask others for help when you need it, especially when you've been there for them. And it doesn't mean ...