The emergence of this image on my easel engendered disappointment.
My disappointment was acute; painting an accurate likeness of beauty I observe every day has long been a desire.
Disappointment has always been difficult for me. You could say that sometimes my fear of disappointment, or my fear of disappointing others, has been a barrier to living a full life.
I’m beginning to learn it is more difficult to experience disappointment when my focus is on the process, not the product. The time I spent painting was satisfying, despite the result. But whether that always holds true or not remains a question.
There are more things I want to explore about the mystery of disappointment: Prepare yourselves for a few weeks of disappointment!
I would love to hear your thoughts about disappointment – I am tempted to say – don’t disappoint me – but I don’t want to put pressure on you. Here are the some questions to ponder:
Have you ever decided not to be too hopeful because if something doesn’t happen, the disappointment would be worse?
Did you ever fear disappointing your parents or a boss?
Do you ever allow yourself to feel disappointed?
Is disappointment an emotion?
Go to blog and comment or send me an email. I will assume you are giving permission to publish unless you tell me otherwise.
Thanks for exploring the mystery – Nicky Mendenhall
2 comments
Having Mom say, “I’m so disappointed in you” was the worst punishment. In fact, it was the reason I never tried alcohol in high school like some of my friends did.
Disappointment must be directly related to expectations. Would we be disappointed if we hadn’t expected a certain outcome?
I guess for me to cope with a disappointment, I look for the good side of it because as Mom also used to say, “Something good comes out of everything.”
Hi Nicky,
I always thought I was kind of a "low key" person, meaning I don't visibly look excited about events or plans. But one of my supervisors made a special trip to the Iowa State Fair, just because she wanted to know what all my excitement was about. Maybe she was even more "low key" than I am! I also remember a sister saying that she thought I was so calm when we moved from one state to another, without any planning……I thought I was a wreck! I'm not quite sure exactly how this fits with disappointment, but this is what came to my mind.
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