I had a dream the other night and woke up with a leadership thought.
In my dream, I had double booked myself for two different weddings. Both of the people getting married were very dear to me, and I truly loved both their families too. I really wanted to do both, so I said YES to both and agreed to officiate. I figured I’d work out the details later, but a problem arose when I realized they were in two different states.
On the day of the weddings I traveled to the first wedding in one state and arrived just before the wedding started.  I officiated it in a hurry and literally walked off the altar and got into my car. I didn’t say goodbye, didn’t spend time with the family, nothing. I was hustling to my next “important” task. Of course, I arrived 2 hours late for the second wedding.
Needless to say, NEITHER couple was happy, and everyone in their families were upset. Not only that, but I was angry with myself for every saying yes to both of the weddings. In my dream, I wished I could have just chosen one because it would have been so much easier.
I woke up with this thought.
Sometimes people have unrealistic expectations because I GAVE THEM an unrealistic commitment.
If you commit yourself to everyone, all the time, you’ll spend more time apologizing to everyone than actually being present with them. You can’t say yes to everyone and everything. This has actually been my reality for several years. I cannot tell you how many people I’ve let down because I was afraid to say no or set a different expectation. And I can’t tell you how much time I’ve spent apologizing because I could not meet an unrealistic expectation that someone had…
Have any of you ever experienced something similar? What are you learning about yourself in regards to this?