Disappointment-Not a Destroyer

I have experienced, like all of you, disappointment on  many levels. Disappointment is a painful experience for me.

Each time I experience it I don’t see it coming. It sweeps me off my feet like a tornado.

We all face disappointment in our lives.

I have experienced disappointment with family, friends, co-workers, my children, humanity and myself.

I had almost forgotten about disappointment. I haven’t experienced much recently. I almost felt like it had been eradicated from my life.

Not so lucky and not so realistic.

I recently experienced some disappointment, something minor yet…

My heart sank and sadness poured over me. I thought about the situation for a long time. Wondered why I hadn’t been prepared. Wondered why I let it, once again, sweep me off my feet.

Why wasn’t I prepared?

The reason I wasn’t prepared is that I chose not to be prepared.

Each time I have been disappointed in my life I have learned a valuable lesson.

Clarity around the lessons may have taken time but from those disappointments and painful experiences I learned and continue to learn... 

To make better choices, engage in healthier relationships, forgive, communicate, share my feeling and trust my instincts.

I learned and am continuing to learn not to give up hope; to keep trying and working for what I want and need in life.

I choose not to be prepared for disappointment because I don’t want to let it turn me into someone who doesn’t trust, who doesn’t take risks, who fears being hurt. I don’t and won’t let disappointment turn me into a bitter person or worse, a person full of regrets.

This last disappointment, a disappointment in myself, was like a bee sting. Pain was intense for a moment; I cried, the pain passed and the stung wore off…it never left a mark.

What I learned….is that we are all doing the best we can given the circumstances in which we have... that includes me…

Disappointment is a part of life; don’t be afraid of it....embrace it...learn from it.....keep on living to the fullest... because in the words of Eliza Tabor:

“Disappointment to a noble soul is what cold water is to burning metal; it strengthens, tempers, intensifies, but never destroys it”

Keeping it Real with Dr. Mary G.