Expectations?

Whenever you walk into a new relationship with a new partner, what are your expectations of him/her? Do you set a list of expectations for him/her? Do you have a checklist where the relationship is suppose to go according to what you have expected? Expectations...everybody has expectations on themselves. But the moment they enter a relationship, both male and female often set expectations that they expect their partners to follow. Is this the right way to approach a relationship? Or is it wrong?

I have friends, both guys and gals, who set expectations on their partners before they had even formed a solid relationship. Sometimes, the relationship works out. Sometimes not. For me...it's different. From the first moment I started going out on dates and then having steady relationships, I've never set high standards of expectations for my partner. To me, a new relationship is like a clean slate. As the relationship progresses, the slate will be filled with pictures, doodles, scribbles, etc...things that only both me and my partner will experience. When the relationship ends, I will quietly put away that slate and take it out once in while to reminiscence about the past. Oh no, I won't think about the past for long, but I'll take it out and learn from the mistakes that I had made in the relationship. And when I start a new relationship with a new man, I'll take a fresh clean slate and start all over again. I do not bring excess baggage from my previous relationships into my new one. Some of you may think it foolish of me to not have any expectations at all. Well, to say that I have zero expectations would be a lie. But whatever expectations I have are very simple requests because I'm just a simple girl after all.

All I ask from a man is to treat me right, be caring and kind and most importantly, be honest to me. At the same time, I also ask for that very same man to never take me for granted, to never neglect me when I needed him most. I believe that with love, a man will be able to fulfill all these simple expectations I have. The ex did fulfill these simple expectations at the beginning of the relationship. I guess that was how I fall so much in love with him. But as the years passes by, when he realise that my love for him surpasses the love he had for me, he begun to stop trying to fulfill these simple expectations. Yes, he claimed that he loves me and all, but how could a man in love with me ever treat me the way he did? I realise now that as time passes by, I lowered my expectations on him and that was when all hell broke loose.

Aside from the simple expectations, a man got to first make me feel secure when I'm with him. And I don't mean in a physical way only, but also financially and emotionally. If a man could not make me feel secure in any aspect, then what's the point of starting a new relationship fill with fear and insecurity?

Anyway, that's what I feel and believe in. What are your expectations on your partner?