Handling Disappointment

I was talking with one of the girls that I work with yesterday. She was incredibly disappointed because she was hoping to have received a graduation certificate from a school that she was attending. She was supposed to have received it yesterday. However she had not yet fulfilled all of the requirements to have been able to finish the program. She understood that it was her own doing that caused the postponement of her finishing the program. However she still felt a lot of disappointment.

Disappointment is going to come to all of us in our lives. Who hasn’t gotten their hopes up for something, and then been let down? It is part of life. What are some ways to deal with it?                 

1. Acknowledge that you are feeling disappointed:
It doesn’t help to try and fight the feelings. Allow yourself to feel disappointed. Tell yourself, “right now I feel disappointed,
but it won’t last forever.” Feelings are very transitory. Soon, something in your life will come up that will bring different
feelings into your life.

2. Look at the positives in the situation:
The disappointment that my friend was feeling began to fade as she focused on the fact that the certification was still
going to happen, it was just delayed a little bit. In the big picture she was still going to be able to reach her goal.
There is also a positive lesson that she can learn from this experience if she chooses to. She could learn a valuable
lesson in time management. (i.e. lack of procrastination)

3. Find someone to help:
Sometimes the best remedy for feeling disappointment in our lives is serving someone else. There is much satisfaction
and joy that can be found in helping someone who needs it. Getting our thoughts away from our own pitty party and
giving service can be a powerful catalyst in changing our emotions.

So if your are feeling disappointed about something in your life remember:
It is not going to last forever
There is something good that will come from what is happening
Find someone that you can help