Sometimes, a stone is just a stone.

I think we expect too much out of people sometimes. And it creates a horrible situation for those people, because they want so badly to be as smart, as amazing, as kind as you think they are, but it may not be something they're inherently capable of being. People who expect too much of themselves (perhaps due to an overly critical environment during the developmental years), will in turn expect too much of the people around them. And sometimes that expectation is a set-up, because inevitably, the people can not fulfill such lofty expectations. But it creates a really tragic event, what happens when these two people have to part because the cycle of their interactions has become so detrimental to their well-being. Perhaps the responsibility of each human being is to not project rigid expectations onto others, particularly expectations to those around us who are emotionally vulnerable to us. Because this forces them to try to be something that they are not capable of being, causing a lose-lose situation. We should also be very honest in saying whether or not each person can fulfill what we would want from him/her. If the answer is no, we must either decide that we can be content with who this person realistically is, or we must have the discipline and strength to walk away rather than go forth into a situation where both parties will end up worse for the wear. This is a very hard lesson to learn. But remember, the driving, internal need to affect those around us and to make them fit the projection of what we want them to be is really psychologically harmful, and creates heartbreaking, painful results. So as unpalatable and pointless as it may seem, it would be quite beneficial to our own psychological health and to the quality of our relationships with others to be very aware of our expectations of others and make sure that these expectations are realistic and can be fulfilled.