I live by this motto "Hope for the best and prepare for the worst". Mainly what it means to me is that things can always be worse than they are and there is always someone suffering worse than you somewhere in this world so try to make the best outta what you have but keep hope alive.

I do this, because I'd rather be realistic than disappointed. If i expect that things may not always go as I would like, than I am more likely to remain focused on the situation, until it comes to an end regardless of its outcome. It's also easier to shake things off when they go wrong, if you at least recognized that it might not work out as planned.

I was told that if I expect everything to be F'ed up, I'll never be disappointed.

It's been my experience that it's not the hills or the valleys that prove to be the biggest challenges in life. You have no choice but to deal with those, and somehow you do. It's the daily "dips in the road" that really test your ability to maintain a positive attitude. Learn not to let those little things get you down and you'll do well enough. The trick, I think, is in learning to separate what's important from what isn't.

Of course, life isn't about a smooth plateau all the time...Although dealing with unexpected setbacks can be very frustrating. Conceptually, it's easy to expect the unexpected, but it's the nature of the unexpected itself that's jarring...

This is reality. How you handle the bumps in the road is what matters.

This is true. You have to expect that there will be bad days. Sometimes there will be weeks, or a longer period of time where it seems like nothing is going right. And its just one thing after another. You can also be happy to expect that with the bad there can come good. You will have your good times also.

This is a reality check. As being a positive person or living a positive lifestyle doesn't mean you should de-tach yourself from the real world.