Dealing with Disappointment

Life is comprised of triumphs and tragedies.  In our quest for our dreams, CIRCUMSTANCES can not only set us back but sometimes - if we're not careful - can derail us entirely.  It is fundamentally human to experience disappointment, fear of failure, and even the rollercoaster of negative emotions that come when things don't go as planned or worse.

The stress of this can often make us sit on our couch or in our beds and just cry... sometimes we develop elaborate and often destructive coping mechanisms in our attempt to dilute the pain we feel.

For me, I believe the key to rebounding is to REMEMBER your Dream... not to discount it nor to allow the circumstances that can sometimes cloud your vision to convince you they are bigger or more powerful than your dream itself.  That is the lie.  It's the lie that negative feelings introduce to our mind and attempt to consume our thoughts with  to distract us to the point that we forget or give up. 

Now we can all debate WHY this happens... talk spirituality, psychology, physiology, etc.  But the reality is that it DOES and we all need to find how to take control of our minds and reject those negative, destructive thoughts that hit us with tsunami-like force.

But HOW?

Here again is why I believe it is critically important to WRITE YOUR VISION!  Take the time to sit down, think through what you want for yourself - your life, your year, your day.  As you do that, write each thing down.  Focus on the words you use.  Are you writing positive, affirming adjectives or verbs? or are you fearful, passive saying things like "IF this..." or "hopefully that..."?

The words you use - will help you understand not only your thoughts but the curses we often speak over ourselves.  Imagine that!  We can condemn ourselves simply by what we say or how we say it.

For example:  Whenever you speak the words "I can't..." or "that won't happen" or "I don't know..." you are beginning with a NEGATIVE.  Even sometimes when we turn our words around, we miss it!  When we say things like "No Fear. No Doubt.  No Regrets." our minds only register the words not the meaning so we process the words:  FEAR, DOUBT, REGRET.  Instead, try saying "I'll be COURAGEOUS today!"  or "I BELIEVE"  or "I CHOOSE" -- these are empowering because they are positive reminding us that we do have some influence over our destiny.

When disappointments happen or negative circumstances errupt, reject the onslaught of negative thoughts LITERALLY:  I write things like "I reject these thoughts.  I CHOOSE to BELIEVE in my dream.  I see what is happening here and although I'm hurt, I will not give up or let go.  I am destined to have my dream realized."  And then I detail the specifics of my dream, my vision.  As I write, I speak those words out loud so my ears hear it and my mind registers it in multiple ways: reading/seeing, hearing, speaking.

You have to encourage yourself to have faith in your dream.  It doesn't just happen.  You have to actively engage.

And remember to give yourself a break!  It's human to get disappointed, feel down, be overwhelmed, and to experience failure or loss.  These things hurt.  Circumstances can hurt us.  Our friends, families - people can hurt us.  BUT you can choose to rebound. 

Embrace that hardship or setback.
Embrace the mistake or failure.
Embrace the circumstance.

...but Reject the negative feelings and thoughts.  Don't give them THAT power.  They provide absolutely no benefit.

Your dream is worth fighting for!
So CHOOSE it.
REMEMBER your Vision!

and DARE to boldly stare that disappointment squarely and say "No, you cannot steal my Dream!" STAND!
STAND!

Choose to say:  "I Stand!"

       THINK.       WRITE.       BELIEVE.       ACT.