Someone like you

Wanted to write this for a looong time, but couldn't find the words to express myself.
Actually I am not sure if I am able to express 100% of what I really want to convey at this moment, but I will give it my best shot.

Sometimes, we expect too much, from the people around us, and from ourselves. We think that they or we should be able to do this/that, to the extent that we feel irritated or even upset when things do not go the way we expect them to. If so, should we just rid ourselves of the expectations? Wouldn't the problem go away then? Ideally, it would, wouldn't it?

『没有期待、就不会失望。』昔、そう思った時期もあった。でも、それでいいのかな？

In the past, sometimes I would think that if there were no expectations, then there wouldn't be any disappointment. But is it really so?

"Sometimes the best things happen when we least expect them to" The word least here seems to imply that we tend to have expectations, no matter how much or how little.

I guess maybe expectations are part of us, the way our shadows are.

We expect things to happen, we expect things from people, we expect things from ourselves.
Have you ever thought that you would/could be the one to make a difference?

When I look in the mirror, I see someone like me, and I think, "You there in the mirror, can someone like you really make a difference?"

Depending on my mood, and whether it is a bad hair day or not, haha, I sometimes think that "This is the time and place, and I am the one!!!" (pardon my seemingly superconfidence :p)

Usually, though, I am more pragmatic, and I know that making a difference is not as simple as it seems.

Making a difference, what a cool thing! Of course, no one said it would be easy. Some of my friends appear to have given up on their dreams of making a difference. I think it is sad, but to each his/her own, and we all have our own ways of thinking.

I would like to make a difference too, in my own way. I don't have any delusions of grandeur; if you think I do, you can pinch me and kick me. haha :p

Still, I feel that it would be defeatist if we gave up too easily, although maybe there are times when we have to learn not to snap at anything that moves, to learn that we can triumph without fighting.
Sure, everyday we fight our own battles. You do, I do, even God does.
We encounter people who cannot stand our guts, or vice-versa, and we see things that sadden instead of gladden our day. While we cannot control our external environment, I believe that we can control our attitude.

We can be the Sun that shines through the dark gloomy clouds.

We can be the cactus that withstands the scorching heat of day and the freezing cold of night in the desert.

But we are not so super that we can fight every battle; we should let people fight their own battles and support them in our own way, be it with a gentle smile, with words of encouragement, with simple messages, or just with our silent presence by their sides.

It's the little things that matter, you know. :)