Disappointments are terribly dangerous. They can be outrightly devastating and can even go a notch higher, leading to depression. But living with a positive mindset can significantly help one overcome disappointments.
A sage once told me, “whenever you encounter disappointment or are faced with a challenge, ask yourself– what lesson am I supposed to learn from such a situation? Once you've figured out that lesson, the challenge becomes easier to wade off” and this works.
As humans, we are wired to automatically dwell on the negative whenever something goes sideways, forgetting that disappointments hold so many valuable lessons. First, it's an opportunity for growth. It's only fitting that I acknowledge growth as a perk of disappointment because it was a devastating disappointment that set me on the path to self-discovery and growth, leading me to join Hive and undergo a profound transformation. Now, I can confidently say that I've made tremendous progress, and the evidence of my personal growth is clear for all to see.
Disappointments don't only foster growth but build resilience too. Once a person has faced a series of disappointments, they would be forced to take a step back, reflect on their life and come up with a genius plan to avoid similar disappointments in the future. This is because, we play a certain role in the disappointments we face and if we assess our actions in relation to our outcomes, we may be able to see the minute faults and make adjustments, building resilience. I have a friend who is a jack of all trades because of the number of disappointments he's faced in life. This may not be the best way to go about it because it takes away professionalism but it works for him and that's great. Now, if his videographer doesn't show up, he can improvise, his chef doesn't show up, he improvises. At this pace, whenever he faces a setback, he emerges stronger and more resourceful.
I recently got a slice of the disappointment cake and I emerged more handy and grounded even when I thought I wouldn't survive the day. I have a few colleagues that I work with every week day at the hospital and whenever they are around, there is division of labour and division of labour equals less stress. On a certain day, I noticed that three of them didn't show up for work and I assumed that they had their various reasons so I didn't pry. We divided duties amongst ourselves and the body ache I felt at the end of the day was evidence of a hectic day.
The next day, none of my colleagues showed up and I almost lost my mind. How was I supposed to do the duties for six people by myself? To top it all up, none of them called or texted and somehow, as the group head, I was supposed to cover up for them whenever our supervisor came around. Two people I can cover up for but six? I was absolutely disappointed to say the least because amidst all of the pain and discomfort I felt, I managed to show up to work that morning.
Unlike his usual routine, our supervisor made an unexpected appearance in the morning and his first question was “where are the rest of the nurses in your group”. I managed to bit about the bush, highlighting the fact that we had a really hectic day the previous day, till the man forgave the rest of the nurses. Now, I was tasked to carry out all of their duties with his assistance. Instead of taking this the wrong way, I saw it as a golden opportunity to learn from an expert.The number of handy skills I learnt that day are skills that would take me months or even years to learn without the assistance of my supervisor. All it took was one day, a bunch of apathetic colleagues, one sympathetic supervisor and a positive mindset.
These days, I perceive disappointments as signs. Not only do I see positivity in disappointment, I take it as the universe trying to tell me something and more often than not, I'm right. Even when things don't go the way we want them to, there's always a silver lining–a lesson to learn, a chance to adapt, an opportunity to to be a better version of ourselves and even the possibility to emerge stronger and wiser.
Images are mine.