Disappointments are inevitable! Have you ever felt disappointed? How did you handle the people or things that made you feel disappointed or caused it?
Have you thought about the reasons you felt disappointed? How were you able to navigate through your seasons of disappointments without feelings of resentment towards the people who disappointed you?
Oftentimes, we feel disappointed because of the high expectations we place on things or people.
Disappointment is the feeling of sadness, anger or resentment that arises when you are unable to achieve or get what you so desire.
Having unrealistic expectations is the major cause of disappointment. As humans, we place our expectations on a lot of things and people, especially the ones we trust. And when those expectations are not met, we get disappointed.
The people we are usually disappointed at or who disappoint us are those who are closest to us. These people are:
God
At some point, many people feel disappointed in God even though they deny it or refuse to talk about it because of what people will say.
We all know God to be merciful and prayer answering God, but there are times we pray and it seems He is not listening to us. For instance, a person may feel disappointed if after they prayed to God to bring to life a loved one who had just died but the situation remains the same. Realising that such a loved one is gone forever despite praying is disappointing to many people.
Parents
We get disappointed in our parents when they say or do things we never expected from them.
Friends
Friends are meant to be our backup. A friend is someone who is there when the world turns its back on us. Unfortunately, nowadays, friends disappoint and betray each other without remorse. So sad!
Children
It is always the dream of parents to see their child grow and meet up with their definition of perfect and successful. However, most children end up not being able to meet up with all these expectations.
Oneself
This type of disappointment occurs when people believe they should be able to do something but end up failing.
How to avoid disappointments
- Balance your expectations: Just like being too expectant causes disappointment, balancing expectations reduces and prevents it.
- Be considerate: Most people don’t plan to disappoint. To them, disappointments happen unintentionally. Therefore, we should be considerate of such people even when they end up not meeting up with our expectations.
- Let go: Learn to forgo things, no matter how much hope you’ve placed on them.
- Know that God is not a wicked God: know that for everything he does there is always a reason for it
- Forgive yourself: Learn to forgive yourself for those expectations you were not able to meet.
In conclusion, disappointment is what the enemy uses to break trust and build walls in any relationship. It is up to you if you are going to let him succeed or fail.
