We talk about this in class all the time. Picture the scenario of leaving yoga class, blissfully driving out of the parking lot, still hearing the chant of "lokah samastha" in your head, and then you get cut off by some wiseguy who absolutely HAS to merge into traffic ahead of you. Hopefully the afterglow of yoga class is still with you, and you wish that poor soul that he be happy, be peaceful and be free from suffering. But what about when it's not immediately after class? The trick is to carry that attitude of wishing all beings happiness, peace and freedom from suffering at all times, no matter how rude they might have been to you. It's very hard to remember that the undesirable behavior other people exhibit is totally a reflection of who THEY are, and their internal issues, and not about YOU, even though they might very well even tell you that it's about you. Case in point, the so-called friend who's always talking about how happy (or insert any other attribute: thin, wealthy, lucky, etc.) you are, and how she isn't, to the point of resenting you for your happiness. So much wasted energy there! And so yeah, so totally NOT about you.

Simple concept, though really tough to practice. As we chanted in teacher training a couple weeks ago, "om mani padme hum": don't let life's muck drag you down.

I would like to comment further about Expectations, and ZB, you make an interesting point here.

Whenever I have Expectations, it only leads to disappointment.  Then it triggers this negative dominoe effect that if not seen through clearly, resentments, frustration, and most importantly....ATTACHMENT to the outcome arises.  I have learned in my life that every problem I have ever had was because I had an Expectation that lead to a disappointment because I was Attached to it.  As Yoga aspirants we are suppose to steer our minds clear from this.  We should be able to see this and think it through.  It is our practice.  If we are challenged with these things, then it is because we have not mastered it yet and we are a work in progress.  Another words it all goes back to Yoga is a process and this is part of the terrain.  Like ZB mentions, she traced her expectations back to when she was 7-8 years old.  Think about how long those patterns have been set in place.  Now, we are in our 30's and 40's trying to undo all this and establish new healthy patterns.  Then as we are establishing these patterns and realizing this, we start to see others in the world (other yoga aspirants or people in general) and we wonder, "why hasn't this person evolved" or we want a situation to be conducive to our own because we think we are either going to be comfortable or not alone.  We are social creatures after all and we need community...unfortunately, our world doesn't seem to be cooperating with our thinking.  This is where it takes time and patience.   This is why Ghandi said, "Be the change you want the world to be".  We will never be able to fix the world and the people in it.  We have to start with ourselves and extend that light out to every person we connect with.  Eventually, if you are truly walking your path and truth, you will attract to you the people, the situations for growth, everything you need will appear in your life.  You can't share with others what you don't already have.  The key is letting go and not forming expectations. Which brings me to say that we live in a society where we have everything at our fingertips, in the way of material things, our shelter, food, etc.  When you start a yoga practice, it is like starting over, starting a new life.  We have to re-learn everything and forget most of what we already know.  It's like starting childhood all over again.  It's a re-birth that happens to us when we are adults.  Which is why I love the Hindu culture because it is designed to support children from an early age.  Although, this is changing drastically due to cultural influences. The wisdom is passed down from parents.  We didn't have that luxury, so therefore, our challenge is much greater.