Actions and results : Lowering our expectations, the key to happiness

You open the door to someone and they whiz by without saying a word of acknowledgment.
You step to the side allowing a rushing customer to move ahead of you in the supermarket line, they blatantly pass you by with a dismissive frown plastered across their face.
We all had at least one similar experience where we felt slighted and insulted by the apparent selfishness of our fellow humans.

Our reactions to these situations depends largely on the intention behind our actions.

If we help for the sake of helping out, feedback is of no import to us. When we are engaged in an endeavour, failure or snotty critisism are taken with a smile and a light heart.

That "Thank you" that was denied to us, may, overtime, turn some of us into callous  being and may shut our heart to the outflow of benevolence and amiability.
Nice gestures should be done for their own sake with no expectations attached to them.
Expectations make our lives less enjoyable and adds unneeded burden to our daily tasks. 

When we live a "process oriented life" as opposed to a "goal oriented life", we are too busy acting and enjoying each movement and each step, not heavily concerned about potential results or byproducts of our actions. 

In these moments our thinking is focused on the task at hand, we are not "living" in our minds. We self-correct through actions, not by brooding and catastrophizing.
When we pull the harness on our mind's senseless meanderings, reign in our thinking and focus on each step rather than anticipating the future, we achieve and thrive.

Actions and more actions is the key to success. When we act our body's innate compass steers us towards the right path, right decisions and eventually success in life.