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A piece of wisdom you’ve likely heard is not to expect too much to avoid disappointment, even heartbreak. Reality moves to its own beat and can either exceed those presumptions, if you’re lucky, or throw a monkey wrench on them.
Here are some visual examples of that constant battle between expectations and reality. Some of these photos feature surpassed expectations, which is always a joyful outcome. On the flip side, you will also see images that are likely to induce facepalms and chuckles.
These are some of the top posts from the Expectation vs. Reality subreddit. Enjoy scrolling!
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
The Brief My 8 Year Old Niece Gave Me For Her Birthday Cake And The Finished Cake
RELATED:
#2
Otterly Impressive Birthday Cake From My Mom!
#3
Cake My Son Requested vs. What We Received
There is nothing wrong with having expectations. However, it becomes a problem when it affects how you run your life. Experts like author and health educator Dr. Elizabeth Scott refer to this as the “Expectations vs. Reality Trap,” which, among other things, can make us less grateful.
“When our expectations outpace reality, it often means we don't appreciate what we do have,” Dr. Scott explained in an article for Very Well Mind, noting that it may lead to comparisons, which is a known thief of joy.
#4
I Needed A Cartoon Cake And Only Gave This Picture For Inspiration. This Was The Final Product!
#5
The Way We Advertise Our Jack-O-Lantern Pizzas vs. The Way I Like To Make Them For Customers
#6
Made My Niece's Birthday Cake (On The Right)
Dr. Scott brought up an important point: social media has become a catalyst for the significant stress brought on by unmet expectations. Many people tend to do this by comparing their worst days to someone’s best moments, all of which are the product of hard work and fumbling along the way.
“We may not even realize this mismatched comparison. This may be part of why those who spend more time on social media tend to be less happy,” Dr. Scott wrote.
#7
The Inspiration And How It Turned Out
#8
I Think It Turned Out Pretty Well!
#9
My Attempt At A Tulip Wreath I Found On Pinterest
On the topic of expectations and happiness, Yale University professor Robb Rutledge says it happens in the little daily moments, like when ordering a meal at a restaurant and bringing preconceived notions to the experience.
“You’re taking a risk there: Your meal could be better than you expected, or it could be worse than you expected,” Rutledge said in an interview with UC Berkley’s Greater Good Magazine.
#10
Guard Dog
#11
My Mom Made This Duck Cake; Turned Out Pretty Well
#12
This Patch I Ordered Off Amazon
Others may flip the script and have low expectations to cushion the blow of potential disappointment. Rutledge says there is a downside to this mindset, as well.
As he explained, expecting things not to go well may lead to a lack of motivation to try new things or take risks. Rutledge noted, “It’s hard to grow as a person if you avoid any uncertain situation.”
#13
Handsome
Brittania Kelli 6 days ago
What do you expect people who sell their souls to $atan to look like?
#14
My Mom Made An Elsa Cake
#15
Well, It Fits The Cat
Apart from avoiding marketing comparisons, especially on social media, or considering what makes you happy, how can we manage our expectations? Dr. Scott shares one essential pro tip: practicing gratitude and emotional acceptance.
As she explained, doing the former makes a person feel more appreciative of what they have, while the latter is about taking negative emotions as they are, rather than suppressing them.
#16
The Birthday Cake My Wife Made For Our Daughter
#17
Ordered From Grocery Store. Cupcake 'Cake' For My Daughters Birthday. Pleasantly Surprised!
#18
Birthday Cake I Asked For vs. What I Got
#19
I Think We Did A Pretty Decent Job With My Nieces Birthday Cake
#20
Think My Wife Did Very Well On This One
#22
In Japan, One Should Expect To Get What One Expects
General Anaesthesia 6 days ago
Japanese consumer protection: "Japanese law requires that advertisements, including packaging images, must accurately represent reality. Misleading representations are strictly prohibited under the Act Against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations (AUPMR), which is overseen by the Consumer Affairs Agency (CAA)."
#23
A Portion From The Lawsuit Suing Taco Bell For False Advertising
#24
What My Sister Asked For vs. What The Salon Did vs. What My Mom Did After The Salon Disaster
#25
Subway Sued For Exaggerating Meat By 200%
#26
My Wife's McDonald's Cone In The Drive Through Last Night
#27
My Attempt On The Right
#28
I Got This Ice Cream Bar From A 7 Eleven Store In Tokyo And It Was Exactly The Same As In Picture. Plus It Was Delicious!
Lukas (he/him, it/its) 6 days ago
See my other comment- Japan has strict advertising laws and the food must look exactly (or very similar) to how it does on the package. If a cookie on the packaging has lots of chocolate chips, the cookies inside must have lots of chocolate chips.
#29
...squirrels
#30
Don't Think I'll Be Wearing My New Shirt To Work
#31
Tried Making The Momofuku Milk Bar Cake
#32
Spike
#33
Netflix
Rick Murray 5 days ago
To everybody who dislikes Netflix, allow me to introduce you to Amazon Prime. Harsher compression (so REALLY obvious artefacts in those trendy dark scenes), the app is an absolute joke - try finding anything that is not one of their "preferred" trending items, try browsing without the constant upsell of the other stuff you can subscribe to through Prime (like HBO, Canal+, etc) - and they're too cheap to include the original audio in rather a large number of movies, the only available audio is a French dub. Oh, and the search is broken to the point where it'll suggest a kids program about girl witches that's about as tame as it gets when you're looking for "post-apocalyptic horror". Gee, thanks, I guess. There's a reason Netflix gets my eyeballs. As much as it súcks, and it sũcks a lot (see picture above), it doesn't sùck anything like as much as Prime video. Why oh why do the streaming apps have such terrible UIs? 🤷🏻♀️
#34
Merry Christmas Everyone!
#35
I've Been Staring At This Cutie On Fb Marketplace For Weeks
#36
Every Time
#37
My Darth Maul Birthday Cake Ate Too Much Cake
#38
Taking Pictures Of Your Pets. [oc]
Multa Nocte 6 days ago
Oh come on. That pup is so cute it looks adorable with any little bit you get!
#39
Husband Tried To Make A Dolphin For My Cocktail. It's The Cutest Eel I've Ever Seen
Multa Nocte 6 days ago
"Do you know what that sound is, Highness? Those are the shrieking eels! If you don't believe me, just wait. They always grow louder when they're about to feed on human flesh! If you swim back now I promise no harm will come to you... I doubt you'll get such an offer from the eels."
#40
I Bought This Bob Ross Chia Pet . . . These Are Not Happy Trees
#42
I Feel Like Majority Of The Applebee’s Menu Is Expectationvsreality
#43
The Top Is Pottery That My Mom Got In Germany, The Bottom Is My Attempt To Make It In My Ceramics Class ://
#44
I Knew I Was Taking A Gamble Ordering From Wish.... But Still, I Couldnt Stop Laughing When My Blanket Finally Arrived!
#45
These Things Never Work Out, Do They?
#46
American Cherry Pie Frapuccino In Japan
#47
Tattoo Artist Ftw
#48
My Friend Bought This Costume Online And I’ve Been Laughing All Day
#49
My Wife’s Felting Project
#50
Halloween Treat Looks Like A Bad Trick
#52
Alien Balloons
#53
Ordered A Cake For My Father’s Birthday
#55
I Feel Robbed Of My Chocolate
#56
The Crystal Mug My Boyfriend Ordered Me For Our Anniversary vs. What We Actually Received
#57
Thanks KFC, Totally What I Expected /S
Lukas (he/him, it/its) 6 days ago
That top photo looks badly photoshopped, it's throwing me off (this post is from eight years ago, it's not AI)
#58
Bought Tickets To See Creed In Concert. Saw Creed In Concert!
Zig Zag Wanderer 6 days ago
Bought tickets to see AC/DC in concert. Saw a 74 year old guitarist with grey hair and a schoolboy uniform, a deaf Geordie who can't really sing any more, 3 session musicians (basically), and they needed 2 minutes between each song for a breather. It was fricking awesome! Angus is still 'the man' at 74. A living legend.
#59
What Scientists Predicted The Black Hole Would Look Like vs. How It Actually Looks
#60
Mildly Disappointed But Very Amused
#61
Expectation vs. Reality After A 6-Month Backorder From West Elm
#62
Elsa Cake
#63
What My Mother Ordered vs. What She Got
highwaycrossingfrog 5 days ago
I googled this, it's £39 on Amazon, and in the close ups of the coat on its own, i.e. not with the model, it is very clearly thin polyester-type material with dodgy white stitching. She got what she paid for
#64
Breakfast Jackpot
Sara Frazer 6 days ago
But what if the package is telling the truth and two are boiled eggs, and one is, something else... 👀
#65
Amazon Prime Day
#66
Creepy
#67
I Ordered Bruschetta From My Local Pizza Shop
#68
Minnie Gained Some Weight
#69
Underwater Scene Puzzle My Kids Got
#70
Cinnamonroll Birthday Cake, What I Sent vs. What I Got…
#71
The Cake I Ordered vs. What I Got
#72
Ordered A Birthday Cake And Received Slop
Sally Moen 6 days ago
It doesn't look like the character unless you use a specific frosting decorating tip
#73
Mom Ordered A Coat For Almost $60
#74
Shirt I Ordered vs. What I Got
#75
Room Service At The Hotel I'm Staying At, I Was So Excited Too
#76
My Buddy Ordered A This Pillow For His Daughter
#77
Tried A Mirror Glaze
Betty Spaghetti 6 days ago
That would have been a gourmet entree back in the days when Jell-O was considered classy
#78
My Vacation In Rio And Seeing The Cristo
#79
My Husband Warned Me His Gift For Me Wasn't Nearly As Nice As It Looked Online. I Cracked Up When I Opened It And Saw The Crystal Mug(S) So Many Have Been Duped By
#80
Giant Teddy Bear
Lukas (he/him, it/its) 6 days ago
I have one very similar! Yes, his legs are very long. I got him for my 17th birthday at the children's shelter and honestly I was scared he was going to m****r me in my sleep at first but now I love him and he's my best friend (I don't have many friends). He's also very space consuming when you're moving across state with all of your belongings, three different times
#81
Ordered A Champion Sweatshirt On Ebay. Received A Hanes Sweatshirt With A Champion Logo Glued On
#82
This Mug
Moving Enigma 5 days ago
Lol, I have the real heat change version, looks like I had a lucky escape!
#83
These Sly, Sly Bastards
Zig Zag Wanderer 6 days ago
I have seen this in Italian motorway service stations. Avoid the packed sandwiches there! Get proper sandwiches (panini)
#84
A Texas Sized Disappointment
Michael Largey 5 days ago
Everything's bigger in Texas - the misrepresentation, the disappointment, the misogyny, the racism, the voter repression, ...
#85
I Paid 8 Dollars For This At The Cinemas
#86
What I Ordered vs. What I Received
#88
Taken From Twitter "(Got Me )looking Like A Gay Priest"
#89
"Please End Me"
#90
I Ordered Some Acoustic Sound Panels. And People Complain About Their Big Macs
#91
Guess I Won’t Be Reaping That Norway Scenery Karma
Daya Meyer 6 days ago
The clouds look artificial to me in the original. I like the real picture. A rainy, moody and somehow depressing scene, but beautiful.
#92
The Mask I Ordered (Left) vs. The Mask I Got (Right)
#93
Thanks Domino's. I Hate It
#94
I Travelled All This Way Because Of Reddit
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What do you think ?
Multa Nocte 6 days ago
These were fun. The good ones were great and the terrible ones were pretty spectacularly terrible.
Michelle C 5 days ago
Learn my lesson with Wish a few years ago while Christmas shopping. Ordered a tabletop tree and a fluffy area rug for my daughters bedroom, got a branch from an artificial tree and the rug was half the size of a welcome mat. Laughed, gifted the rug to the cat, and hung the branch above the table. I made it work...lol
Janet Bird 1 day ago
FFS I didn't say that gord I hates the Internet... but now I'm in a bad mood. 🤬🤣
Load More Replies...
nottheactualphoto 5 days ago
There was a hardware store very close to my house. In the spirit of "support your local," I would buy stuff there: plumbing, electrical, paint, etc. But they often didn't have the thing I was looking for. When they did, the prices were very high. And the owner was an аsshole. So, I'm off to Home Depot.
Load More Replies... Multa Nocte 6 days ago
These were fun. The good ones were great and the terrible ones were pretty spectacularly terrible.
Michelle C 5 days ago
Learn my lesson with Wish a few years ago while Christmas shopping. Ordered a tabletop tree and a fluffy area rug for my daughters bedroom, got a branch from an artificial tree and the rug was half the size of a welcome mat. Laughed, gifted the rug to the cat, and hung the branch above the table. I made it work...lol
Janet Bird 1 day ago
FFS I didn't say that gord I hates the Internet... but now I'm in a bad mood. 🤬🤣
Load More Replies... nottheactualphoto 5 days ago
There was a hardware store very close to my house. In the spirit of "support your local," I would buy stuff there: plumbing, electrical, paint, etc. But they often didn't have the thing I was looking for. When they did, the prices were very high. And the owner was an аsshole. So, I'm off to Home Depot.
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