Column: Try to shrug off life's disappointments

Our columnist Richard Oliffe says we should try and shrug off life's disappointments and how time is a great healer...

Disappointment has to be one of the most shoulder-dropping things to happen to us all.

Not life threatening, or dangerous in any way to others, its simply those moments in life that leave us bereft of understanding, even a selfishness that for once most would understand: why me?

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It’s the one time when feeling sorry for oneself is actually allowed.

Well, not for too long eh?

I’ve been disappointed on many an occasion in much the same way I’d imagine you have too, yet somehow, depending on the severity of the let-down, we manage to bounce back as we rarely have a choice.

So, what’s at the top of the list for disappointment?

Naturally yours will be different to mine, and remember, a disappointment is far from a mistake, unless we’ve been disappointed in our own actions for whatever reason, but that’s a whole different story.

I’m talking about everything from failing a driving test to simply not getting that special job despite that amazing presentation.

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Some people I’ve spoken with tend to list their disenchantments within specific categories like work, home, finances, and so on, yet rarely mix them altogether.

So, let’s give it a try.

There’s a feeling of deep frustration when one is let down by particularly someone close, or even a complete stranger.

Imagine one is selling a house to someone who’s already committed to buying, at least verbally, even to the point of appointing a solicitor and a surveyor and then pulling out at the last minute.

Then there’s the feeling of empathetic frustration when one is told by a student that their application to go to this or that university was unsuccessful.

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Now this takes us into a brave new realm, the one of sharing the burden with another: helping them recover from their disappointment.

It’s in this way that I truly believe we may all recover quicker from any disappointment, if we trust in the knowledge that all things must pass.

By Richard Oliffe