Dealing with Disappointment!

Date: 16th of April 2022

Happy Saturday, Readers! How are you all doing today? I hope you had a wonderful Saturday and staying well.

We are on the sixth day of the week, and it seems like the days are going faster than ever.

Disappointments are unavoidable, and how we cope with them is often a defining moment in our lives; your upbringing often controls how you respond to disappointments. 

Some people strive to evade disappointment by under-achieving (setting low expectations), while others avoid it by overachieving (setting high expectations).

Disappointments are a part of our life when expectations and hopes aren't met. We all feel disappointed with our relationships, ourselves, other people, or the world. 

It might be alluring to manage disappointment by evading it, and you may be thinking of not having any expectations, but it isn't possible to do this.

Imagine trying to have no ideas or thoughts on how something would go! Expectations are helpful in many ways, so there is no reason for you to try removing them.

It is not easy dealing with disappointment, and you may be asking yourself how you can cope when it happens? Here are some ways to do that.

Understanding Disappointment and Validating it

First, you need to acknowledge that you are experiencing disappointment, and even if it is tempting to ignore, distract, or minimize yourself from unpleasant feelings, you should never do it.

If you try to evade or ignore these feelings, you will only feel worse over time.

Acknowledging and giving a name to a feeling may help you cope with it healthily. Validating your emotions will help you accept the present and remember that it is ok to have these feelings.

Emotions happen for a reason, don't fight them.

Review Expectations and Modifying them to match Reality!

Sometimes, altering your expectations is the most suitable way to cope with disappointments. If an expectation is inflexible or doesn't match up with reality, then there is a high possibility you will be disappointed.

Let us take, for example, if you believe you should never try something new more than once, so you learn it, or that others should reply to your messages within 2 minutes; you might find yourself being disappointed frequently.

Concentrating on the Bigger picture: Predicting and Accepting Disappointment in Life!

A great way to deal with disappointment is remembering that it is inescapable and part of life. There is no way to evade it, and it is a feeling that comes with the expectations we set that were not met.

If you expect to live a life free from disappointments, you will be disappointed. Accepting disappointment can make things less uncomfortable and depressing.

Handling and Riding the Wave of Disappointment

Have you tried making an emotion go away? Or create an emotion you don't have? Either way, you likely know that things don't work like that.

Once you feel an emotion, it will be there until it finally fades away or passes. All emotions, including disappointment, fade or pass away over time.

It doesn't matter how uncomfortable or upsetting your emotions are at first; they will either fade/pass quickly and even if they are intense, they will eventually fade.

A healthy way to deal with disappointments is by reminding yourself that it is a wave, and you should ride it until it passes.

Being kind and validating your feelings will help you ride the wave of disappointments, and you will get out of it.

Getting support from others will be helpful, and focusing your energy and time on something else may help you forget or feel more comfortable.

If you have acknowledged and validated your feelings, then distracting yourself is a great way to get through the wave of depression.

Whether you feel disappointed in yourself, your relationship, or others, there are various ways to cope with it.

Accepting disappointment by giving it a name and validating it is a great way to start.

It is always healthy to remember that disappointments are a part of life, and the only thing you can do is bear them and move on.

Thank you for reading!