Why do people kill each other? Why is there hunger, starvation, disease? Why are little children orphaned? Why can’t we keep the promises we make? Why do we speak of heartbreak? Why is there suffering in the world? Why is it that a second, an event, a day, can change our lives forever? Why is it that big dreams, hopes, expectations, are all shut down one by one, leaving us disillusioned, leaving us frustrated?

Take for instance, marriage. When people fall in love, the world is perfect, a beautiful place, nothing can annoy you enough, nothing else really matters. Then comes marriage and the rosy glasses fall off, reality sets in.

A few years into it and the loving, caring, kind and generous person becomes a stranger in the house; cold and distant. Hurtful words are exchanged, the friendship you once had is eroded, people go out of their way to hurt each other in the worst possible ways, and if steps are not taken by both parties to avert the situation, the animosity building up eventually explodes into physical confrontations, which eventually result in separation and or divorce.

Another example is that of our political leaders. Politicians all over the world have one thing in common, lies. Ever since the attainment of independence, Kenyans have elected leaders into power, to represent them, their thoughts, beliefs, aspirations, desires; a voice of the people.

Before these elections are held, they will give promises; of better health programs and facilities, education bursaries, farming tools and equipment, better infrastructure, and many more promises .

And even though our political leaders do not honor their word, we keep electing the same people into those positions until we eventually give up on them and decide to elect new leaders. They too, do not fulfill their promises, and thus the cycle continues.

The employment world is yet another case in point. When one gets employed, they plan for a great life ahead. Employment becomes an open door to many opportunities, the most prominent ones being a better life, better food, better clothes, a better home and a better education for their children.

But as many years pass by without salary increment and little or no motivation, the employees start losing morale for work, their great expectations become only a mirage in a distant future.

The same is the case for employers who invest a lot in the organizations they chair, but don’t get the results they expect. Continued frustrations lead to other problems that impact them morally, mentally, behaviorally, physically and emotionally.

When farmers toil at their shambas, they hope to reap from their hard work. As the saying goes, “one reaps what he sows” every farmer puts in maximum effort to get a huge harvest.

During this time they pray that God may provide favorable conditions for their seeds to germinate. Just as seeds sprout out of the soil surface, a lengthy drought may follow making the seedlings to wither and tendrils to dry out. The result is loss of hope and morale while some even start to deliberate on shifting to other economic activities.

Farmers who plant potatoes and groundnuts may experience continued rains which sweeps away the heaps dug. The result is floods that cause logging in crops and soil erosion in cultivated fields.

When families go out to a family retreat, all members have nice expectations in their minds, unluckily; an accident may happen making one or many of the family members dying. A sweet experience turns sour all of a sudden.

Sicknesses cause great frustrations among people with great ambitions in life. For instance, an illness may render one partially or totally blind or deaf, making them unable to perform some tasks.

Sicknesses may make one spend a lot of family resources trying to treat the disease. Paralysis is one disease that has really made a lot of people bed-ridden and affecting them psychologically.

A woman educates her children single-handedly after the death of her husband, hoping that they will in turn help her when they are older. However, her children forget about her and the frustration gets the better of her.

These are some of the examples of life situations where great expectations make frustrated people. My advice, live your life a day at a time.