Dealing with Disappointment

Dr. John Delony offers a helpful list of ways to move forward in a healthy way. I’ll get out of his way, —

Dealing with disappointment (aka unmet expectations) is the process of grieving the picture that you had in your head, letting it go, and deciding to create a new picture. Let’s unpack that process in these nine steps.

1. Give yourself permission to grieve.

Grieve might sound like a dramatic word here, but it’s not. Disappointment is like a small death of something you hoped for—even if it’s something seemingly trivial.

No matter how big or small your disappointment, give yourself permission to grieve what you’ve lost (or maybe never received). Don’t try to gloss over or numb your unpleasant emotions. Name your feelings. If you’ve been passed over for a big promotion at work, you might chalk it up to feeling depressed or having anxiety, when in reality, you’re actually angry, hurt and disappointed. These are natural reactions to having your hopes let down.

So, allow yourself to feel. Have a hard cry. Sit in your grief, but don’t bathe in it. You must lean into and process your negative emotions in order to eventually let them go and make a plan for how you’re going to move forward.

—- Let’s up right there tomorrow.

Meanwhile, what are some ways you can apply his advice?