Recently, I posted on social media about the importance of leaning into disappointment. Well, that sounds counterproductive, doesn’t it?
Let me explain.
Often, situations might not pan out the way we want them to and it’s usually because it’s out of our control most of the time, right? Naturally, when situations don’t go according to plan, we feel disappointed.
When I think about what disappointment actually feels like, in my body I can say for sure, it does not feel good at all…I find that I physically shrink down, take a deep sigh, and it feels like someone placed a 10lb dumbbell right on my gut.
Before I bog you down and you physically mimic these unwanted disappointment symptoms, I want to remind you of something. You are in control!
Yes, you might not be in control of the situation, but YOU ARE in control of how you handle it…that is, your reaction to what is actually happening. Your reaction is everything!
Let me paint a picture.
I was scheduled to leave for a flight bright (perhaps not for some) and early on a Monday morning. I woke up at 2:30am to get ready (it was more like I jumped out of bed because of the excitement) for my family trip to only look down at my phone and saw a text from the airline that read “Your flight has been canceled”. CANCELED. Canceled?! I was flabbergasted and definitely murmured some curse words under my breath that I won't repeat here. I’ve been counting down the days to spend some family time on a tropical island. I quickly tried to contact the airline and make other arrangements to make my departure happen for that day (if it was the last thing I did) but to no avail. After a hold time of 269 mins (yes, you read that correctly) the end result was that I had to book my flight for another day. Booooooo airline!
At this point, I experienced all of the disappointment symptoms I shared with you earlier and begrudgingly but fortunately, was able to get on a different flight.
Of course, I wanted nothing more than to be on that flight (besides I had my bathing suit in my carry-on ready to go), but the universe had other plans and I needed to accept and respect that. I realized that peace of mind feels a lot better than a bikini string riding up my butt (at least for the moment).
This scenario might seem silly to some or maybe you've been here before (raise your hand high if you have!), but the takeaway here is that LIFE HAPPENS especially when you plan! We are almost always going to face situations like this that will challenge our egos, judgment, and sometimes even our character. The important thing is to remind yourself to stay grounded and lean into disappointment by finding solutions. The more you practice this, the more you’ll shy away from feeling disappointed and step into gratitude.
So the next time you run into a situation like this, remember to pause, say “thank you universe”, and be creative about your next steps.