I found this to be a clear perspective on how we must endeavor to keep our irrationally demanding expectations under careful consideration. Though so much in the days and nights of our lives is well beyond our control, our behavior and reaction is ours to manipulate and apply advantageously in any situation. We can confront our self-serving and self-righteous disappointment and disillusionment, shed the crushing weight of passivity, and neutralize resentment. Happiness and Joy are different things.
We have happiness when expectations are met. We know we have joy when disappointment holds no power over us.
Excerpts below:
"Our mind-sets make a huge difference in how we perceive our circumstances. What we expect shapes how we respond. If we expect peace, we will resent having to fight. If we expect rest, we will resent having to endure. If we expect leisure, we will resent having to work hard."
"Our emotions springing from misplaced expectations of peace, rest, and leisure ask to be coddled. But the Bible doesn’t coddle them; it confronts them. This is kind, not cruel. Because such expectations are weights to be discarded, not desires to be indulged."
—Jon Bloom on the weight of passivity
http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/lay-aside-the-weight-of-passivity
Cheers. God bless.