I used to have friends that could not tolerate the subtle flake of disappointment. They fell apart if their favorite dish wasn’t up to par, which was the reason why we rarely ventured to new restaurants together.
I didn’t get it.
What’s the big deal if we’re subtly uncomfortable? Why does it matter if I didn’t order the seasonal flavor the last time and they’re out of season this time?
Until I got older, and I too crumbled at the slightest slice of disappointment.
What age uncovered is oodles of long-held disappointments. It’s not just that your meat was undercooked, it’s that you haven’t and maybe won’t ever finish that book. It’s not that the new restaurant had slow service and you should have went to your tried and true, it’s that you’ve had more experiences with failures and disappointments. Because you haven’t forgiven yourself for it, each time things don’t work out as planned, it’s like another dig into a deep unhealed wound.
That’s the reason why every decision is important. You can’t contend with another heartbreaking disappointment.
But there is another way.
What if you were to actually do the thing that you always wanted to do?
What if you were to see that your happiness doesn’t depend on everything going your way?
What if instead of anger and disappointment, you brought curiosity to the table?
Can that bad restaurant experience or even that failed trip give you something even if it’s not the gift you wanted?
We can’t control everything in life. But when we focus our energies on how we respond and what we do with what happens-magic! That’s when our lives bloom in the most beautiful and unexpected ways.
