Dealing with disappointments

Everyone will experience disappointment at some stage in their lives. Disappointment is never fun or pleasant. It’s a complex feeling of hurt, anger and sadness. Whether you are dealing with failed relationships or bad grades in school, disappointment may leave you feeling defeated or overwhelmed.
I have faced countless disappointments in my life. Some setbacks take a long time to recover from. During challenging moments, I often try my best to think positive and make the best out of this state of despair. These are several techniques that I applied to overcome the disappointments I encountered during tough times.

Let Your Frustrations Out
Allow yourself some time to heal. It’s normal to feel upset when things don’t turn out the way it should be. Accept the pain and don’t be ashamed to cry as a way to take the frustration out. Expressing your emotions genuinely helps to reduce the pain that you are experiencing.

Change Your Perspective
Dealing with disappointment can cause you to lose hope and remain in a state of despair. You shouldn’t continue to focus on the past as it will restrict your vision. Instead, search for new opportunities which may come your way. For instance, it’s terrible to injure your ankle and not be able to compete in your school annual sports competition, but you can compete again next year.

Share Your Thoughts
Researchers have found that writing down painful experiences in a journal reduces stress levels and promotes healing. I find that journaling has helped me tremendously in identifying the aspects of my life that require improvements. I usually write my thoughts and questions in bullet points to make reading easier. This list contains some of the ideas to get you started:

• What are my feelings on this setback?
• Am I able to change my expectations to make my goal more achievable?
• What are the positive outcomes of this setback?
• Include inspiring quotes to overcome disappointment. Here is one of my favourite quotes to brighten up my day: “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose hope.” – Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Life isn’t always a bed of roses. Setbacks and disappointments are part of life. Overcoming these disappointments can help you to grow in all aspects of your life. Always remember to handle disappointments in a positive way and find value in them.

​Daniella