The Expected Unexpected

Once again, a yearly trip for the car's state inspection has resulted in not the nominal inspection fee, but a not-so-nominal "the car won't pass inspection without this" repair fee. I would like to say this was unexpected, as was the lack of sleep created by the logistics of the repair, but sometimes, what we call "unexpected" is really just denial of "expected." Things may not always turn out the way we want, but often, they don't turn out that differently than we expect...
 
We want our homes to be neat, but do we really expect a neat apartment when we walk in at the end of each day?
 
We want every resume to get a response and every interview to yield an offer, but do we really expect to be noticed and wanted here, there, and everywhere?
 
We want our children to eat well, work hard, and play fair, but do we really expect all this to happen without any input from us?
 
We want there to be raises and discounts and streamers and balloons, but do we really expect every day to be our lucky day?
 
We want right to be rewarded and wrong to be punished, but do we really expect "justice" to be that clear?
 
We can go through our days being surprised, or we can learn a little along the way--whether about car inspections or about orderly apartments or about the people in our lives. It's not a question of giving in. It's simply a matter of expecting the "unexpected."