Dealing with Disappointments
Posted October 7, 2005 
Comments(8)
Comments(8) I find it difficult not to let disappointments get to me sometimes. I don’t know how some people manage to stay (what seems) interminably positive when life goes a bit haywire. It’s a gift which I was not born with and have struggled to develop. Even if I tell myself to look on the bright side when something is bothering me, sometimes I just can’t change my perspective.
I have learnt some techniques and tricks along the way to deal with those times when I am feeling pessimistic and being overly hard on myself and I thought I may as well share them. Here they are:
- Chinese massage
- Fresh juices – I own a Breville Juice fountain and have just recently got into fresh beet juice with carrot, celery and apple – it is delicious and I have discovered that it really peps me up
- Walking home after work – a friend has been walking home from work for years and she inspired me to try it. I walk from Central station to my home which takes about 50 minutes and it really helps to clear my head of the day’s events and widen my focus.
- Yoga
- Meditation – I learnt this in a community course. I haven’t been practising lately but it is really worthwhile.
- Listening to music
- Reading
- Cooking myself a delicious meal
- Meeting up with good friends
- Talking to friends or family
- Asking myself, what is the worst that can happen in this situation and is it really so bad?
- Reminding myself of my achievements, experiences and the other times when I have surmounted obstacles
- Asking myself on a world scale how significant this problem is
- Joining a community college course and learning a new skill
- Getting back to nature – walking in a park, by the beach or drinking a cup of tea in the garden
- Writing out some plans for how to tackle the problem and the future
- Challenging myself to do something difficult which I have always wanted to do
- Travel
- Looking at old photos
- Watching a good movie
- Remembering that life is much more difficult for some people as I saw when I lived in Cambodia and PNG
- Remembering that things happen when they’re meant to and when I’m ready for them
You forgot one other trick for dealing with dissapointments… Finding me (that interminably possitive crazy man that popped up out of nowhere ;-P )
Yes that is true. That should have been at the top of the list! hee hee!
Wow! I think I could use many of your tricks and techniques too. I find if I get myself busy I soon get over the bad patches. I was interested to see that you’re reading “The Female Eunuch”. I read that years ago. Pleased that “July’s People” which I ordered at BB library has come in, so I’m going to enjoy reading it. I’m reading another of Nadine Gordimers ie “The House Gun”. Interesting so far. Good one of you at your lappie but I couldn’t get Amit’s picture show to work. Thank you for your words of wisdom, Ruth.
Excellent Ruth. Oh I think Andrew has a point
LOL 
Rose, sorry I have been a slacko I will flick the whole set of pictures to you. I haven’t actually loaded all the images on my Flickr account but I would some of them soon.
A friend of mine who has MS and is only 31 (she was diagnosed when she was 25 and her marriage subsequently fell apart) rang me on Thursday night and told me that she has been told she is now blind in one eye and that her other eye is on its way. This means that she can no longer drive her car and she must work from home. She is a keen baker, gardener and quilter and she is finding the lack of vision is restricting her greatly. Coupled with the fact that the MS affects her balance, her digestion, her kidney function, her memory and speech, she is really in a bad way emotionally. Listening to her speak and hearing how brave she is, made me stop feeling sorry for myself. I had had a bad experience earlier in the week which made me feel resentful about certain things in my life.
That would be so scary losing your sight. I remember a lady I worked with knew she was eventually going to go blind due to a medical condition she had. It would be an awful prospect. It does make me realise how lucky I am in so many ways.
That’s a little bit like my mum’s best friend. She has been dealing with MS for probably between 20 to 25 years and has been getting steadily worse over the last few years. 2 years ago she was also diagnosed with breast cancer and subsiquently had to have a mammorectomy (I think that is what you call it). She had one of her breasts removed anyways. The funny thing was that the Chemo drugs that she was on actually helped to improve her MS symptoms… very weird. I am always amazed by her though. She still manages to be able to laugh at her situation. She also has 2 daughters which keep her busy (and this was after she was diagnosed). She is a gem and she difinately makes any problem seem insignificant… MS is a pretty insidious condition (any condition that affects the nervous system is scary) and you can either let it get you down or you can persevere with it and keep positive. That is probably the hardest thing to do when faced with such conditions and anyone that can keep their spirit and keep positive about it are definately special.
Amazing and admirable – some people are so strong. Thanks to both of you for sharing these stories of people in your lives who are faced with unimaginable challenges and are being so brave about it.