How To Deal With Disappointment

How To Deal With Disappointment

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One of the reasons I started this blog was to document the major transitions I’ve been going through. I’d like to use it like a journal to help myself and hopefully help others who might be going through something similar.

This past November I terminated a long term relationship and moved 1,000 miles away from the life I had known and moved back in with my parents. It was a tough winter but I got through it with the support of my family and by utilizing my number one coping mechanism: running.

I’ve been running consistently for about five years and this injury marks the 1st time I’ve had to take time off from running.

Today I have encountered more disappointment when I found out I did not get a job that I thought could possibly be my dream job. I am obviously upset, but instead of having a pity party, I am vowing to take this as a learning experience. I’m going to do my best to take things one day at a time and to stay positive.

I am a planner, a day dreamer, and a list maker, so here is my plan on how to deal with disappointment and hoping it might help someone else.

1) Take deep breaths and try to find the positive in the situation. No matter how hard working we are, we are all bound to experience disappointment. I’m going to stay positive by knowing that this injury is going to make me a stronger runner and accepting this job was just not meant to be. I have faith I’ll find something I love and it will work out in the end.

2) Acknowledge what you are feeling and express your feelings to someone. Right now the only thing making me feel better is crying. Resisting the emotions will only make the situation worse and will delay the healing process.

3) Analyze the situation. Think about what happened; could I have done something to have a better outcome or did I give 100%? Whenever things go wrong, analyze the situation, see what you can learn, and then move on.

4) Recognize your coping strategies. Since running has been my number one way to cope, I need to find something new. While crying has been helpful, I would like to take up a new active coping strategy, and have been considering swimming. It would be a new challenge and a way for me to set goals and feel good about accomplishing them.

How do you deal with disappointment?

About Sara

Comments

  1. Oh Sara, I’m so sorry you’re having a rough time. That is just the pits. At least you have your family nearby. It helps so much to have a strong foundation around you to lean on. I do the same kinds of things–look for other things to look forward to. I try to get some new stuff on my calendar so that I can focus on good things in the future. Even if it’s just lunch out with a friend, it helps! I also look for new hobbies (like blogging). Swimming sounds like a great alternative to running, so I hope you enjoy it! I definitely need something physical to cope with hard times–gotta get the endorphins going somehow, right? I hope you are feeling better soon. Just remember that it takes a long time. Be gentle with yourself. Let yourself cry. And have faith that it will get better. XO

    • Thanks Melissa for the great suggestions! I’m going to plan some fun things into my day and make a list of all the things I’m looking forward to. =)

  2. Sorry to hear about the job. I know you’re dealing with all sorts of challenges right now, try and believe it’s all for a reason, a good reason! Recording all this in a blog is really good for you, so that you’re able to look back and see how far you’ve come from today. Trust me! I go back and look at some of my posts when things weren’t going right, and it helps me see how much better things do get.
    You’ll get through it all!

    • You’re right…in six months I hope to look back and see how far I’ve come. I keep repeating to my self that everything happens for a reason and it’s definitely been helping. Thank you!

  3. BigSissy says

    You are a warrior!!!!!!!!!!!!

  4. Sara,

    I am so sorry to hear about your injury and that job not working out. I love your post, you make such a great point about allowing ourselves to feel hurt and disappointment. I think for the longest time I didn’t let myself feel painful emotions because I just didn’t want to. I held them in and they grew bigger and bigger.

    You’re so right that sharing your feelings can be so helpful. I’ve found blogging really is therapeutic for me because I share and get such wonderful and insightful feedback from readers/fellow bloggers.

    I am positive that you have a wonderful future ahead. Job searches can be so frustrating but there is a perfect job for you out there. Best wishes to you, you’re doing a wonderful and inspirational job of working through such a tough time.

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