Lesson 9: It's okay to have expectations, just don't let the expectations weigh more than the friendship

I realized that the closer I get to be friends with people, the more expectations I have on them. I have expectations for them to be there for me, I expect them to respond to my emails, I expect them to respond to my phonecalls, and sometimes I can have unreasonable expectations. In college, I've had many arguments with friends, especially my roommate, where I have gotten mad at him for not meeting my expectations. Sometimes the arguments and frustrations would get to a point where I wouldn't talk with my roommate for days--that's when I let my expectations go over the friendship, which is not good. I find most of the time I have expectations because I want there to be evidence, I want there to be proof that I am cared about and loved by my friends. Yet, people aren't perfect, and I can't expect them be. People will never meet my expectations and I can't let that get in between my friendship and relationships that I have. I need to trust that I am loved and be okay with that.