Expectations vs. Reality

A few months ago I had the opportunity to see a movie entitled "500 Days of Summer." Basically it is a boy meets girl story with a twist. At one point in the movie it shows the main guy character going to a party. It compares his expectations to reality. His expectations are way off and in the end he is disappointed.
I was thinking the other day about how often that happens to me. Either I'm disappointed or pleasantly surprised because my expectations are wrong. I have this funny idea that if I try to imagine how an event will turn out (usually in a way that everything would fall into place) it never happens that way. So I try not to daydream which inevitably causes me to daydream more. :)
unfortunately this week I had one of those moments. My trip that I was blogging about in earlier posts has been cancelled. This is due to a few people dropping out so we no longer had the funding to support the trip. It is very heartbreaking because I had all these silly day dreams of being in Mexico for two weeks. Spending time with the people there, learning how to serve people who I probably couldn't even communicate with and just being with some friends I hadn't seen in a while. I was really frustrated with the people who didn't stay committed to the trip. I was even frustrated with my Dad because he kept saying how it was a good thing because of all the turmoil in Mexico. It was one of those moments that I just didn't want to hear common sense, I'd rather just sulk in pity.
Why is it that our expectations are almost always off whether good or bad? The only thing I can come up with right now is either to keep us on our toes and surprised by life or to keep us humble. To help us realize that somehow our expectations aren't the right size for that specific moment. Maybe I lost this experience because I need to consult more with my Heavenly Father about what he really wants me to do and where he wants me to go. Or maybe it was just kind of a kick in the pants to help me realize that I am interested in humanitarian work and that since this one didn't work out it will just motivate me to work that much harder for other opportunities that come my way. Also I guess it is possible my Dad is right about it being too dangerous. I don't know I guess time will just tell. What I do know, though, is that sulking never got anyone anywhere so I thought I'd blog about it instead. :)