Disappointment

How does it feel when your expectation does not come through?

Very disappointed. That is the most common reaction for most people across cultures, especially if you have already experienced a pleasant experience.?

?If you had traveled to a city before and had a great experience, if you ate at a restaurant and enjoyed the food immensely, if you bought great clothes in a particular shop, you keep returning to the same place expecting to get the same great product or experience.??

If you heard from a friend to eat at a particular restaurant, shop at a store, or travel to a location that they loved; when you did it, it turned out bad, you get disappointed and even might question your friends' judgment.?

Disappointment also happens when society tells you what you should do to be happy, but it does not turn out well when you do it. The community has its list of must-dos, including getting married, having children, having careers such as physicians or attorneys, becoming wealthy, etc.?

Future forecasting is a common phenomenon for us as humans, and we tend to predict happier times in the future than what reality might bring for us. We are future-oriented species. We tend to motivate ourselves to move toward a future that can call us forward. Therefore that future needs to have the best of what we experienced today or yesterday for it to entice us to act toward a tomorrow.?

So, how do we handle the disappointment??

1. Feel, honor, experience, and validate our feeling as normal.

2. Examine our expectations to see if it was real, exaggerated, wishful thinking, or unrealistic.?

3. Adjust our expectations to what is real and present in the here and now

4. Widen the lens to see something positive about the situation as is

5. Enjoy the present moment by focusing on positive matters.?

Feeling disappointed as the first shock appears normal; however, continuing to feel disappointed while we continue with the experience becomes a waste of our time and emotional and cognitive energy. The sooner we begin to surf in the present time, while we get committed to becoming calm, content,?happy, or joyous is to our benefit.?

You might be sitting in a restaurant that you have come to before and expect the same great food, but this time it is not. Enjoy the ambiance or conversation with your friend despite the lousy food.

You might have invested a lot of money and time to start a career; however, it does not deliver what you hoped for, and you are unhappy. You can choose another job or focus on all the benefits this job offers and begin to learn to enjoy it.?

For more observational skills,?Awareness Integration?psychological and educational theory and intervention can help you. I have made this process a structured practice that can support you become aware of your Happiness vs. depression disposition, dualities, and how you operate daily. This model helps you complete the past and create an intentional future by being deliberate today. To experience this model, get my book?Life Reset - The Awareness Integration Path to the Life You Want.?