My Alateen sponsor used to say "Expect nothing. Then, if you get something, it's icing on the cake."
As far as relationships go, expectations can be lethal and are often accompanied by that dreaded "if you love me then you would..." statement.
I think JT mentioned a key phrase, that being "unrealistic expectations."
If someone has proven to be a generally loving, attentive person...it's realistic to expect that kind of behavior from them.
If someone has proven to be a generally unloving, inattentive person...it's unrealitic to expect that kind of behavior from them.
I think seperating out the unrealistic from the realistic is part of the process when it comes to dealing with expectations.