The other day, I inadvertently backed up into my husband's truck, for the second time in one month. Both times it was parked in an atypical location, but both times I should've seen it. Both times I was going about 1 mile an hour. I have incurred enough damage to pay for two round-trip airfares to Europe. This was a disappointment.
My initial reaction was that I was sad and dismayed. However I was on my way to a delivery, so I knew I had to be sharp. I knew it was nobody's fault really and that there was nothing to be done about it at that moment. The necessity to get out of my funk in short order was actually a really positive exercise. It caused me to think about the best way to deal with disappointment.
All the sources that I consulted on the subject indicated the same basic set of recommendations. Here is my personal redux on the matter.
- Pause and breathe before reacting. Take a couple of minutes if need be.
- Acknowledge your own feelings of disappointment or anger, but do not act out.
- Accept the present state of affairs.
- Deliberately avoid blame and invoke an attitude of neutrality.
- Take responsibility for what you can.
- Remind yourself that all problems have solutions or at least strategies.
- Deal constructively with what you have to and postpone the rest until the initial shock wears off.
- After the initial shock wears off, reach out to others who you know will be helpful and supportive.
- After any big disappointment, stay in your basic routine. Observe a good sleep schedule and stick to your three meals and three snacks every day as well as your workout.
- Go out of your way to remind yourself about all the good things in your life.
Keeping this routine will help keep your stress levels down and help you recover from disappointments.