How many times were you told as a child to chew before you swallow? There is good reason for that. You cannot swallow whole pieces of steak or you are going to choke. When it comes to various parts of our life, we often try to swallow the whole cow, and we more than choke. We get outright discouraged by the impossibilities.

We have huge goals, dreams, and hopes. There is nothing wrong with that. Big dreams and hopes are only accomplished with smaller goals.

It goes beyond hopes and dreams. It involves our desires.

We desire to be better people. We desire to be closer to God, and those are great desires. Our desires are only accomplished with smaller goals in those directions.

You will not write that book if you don't LOVE sentences.

You will not win any battle in life without a thousand cuts.

Intimacy with God is an unrealistic expectation if you do not make realistic goals like reading His Word 3 days this week, journaling 3 times this week, or praying each day...this week.

Healing that wound in your life is an unrealistic expectation, but a realistic goal might be not isolating yourself or avoiding people this week...and next week...and...

Being a more involved spouse or parent is an unrealistic expectation, but a realistic goal might be to ask your spouse on a date this week, have a 'daddy-date' this Saturday, say 'I love you' once a day this week, or after each conversation this week.

This goes on and on and on...

When you do not set realistic goals, you can only form unrealistic expectations.