How to Recognize & Face Disappointment in Your Relationships, Career, Life (You Name It)! by Holly Brown MFT

Disappointment is a kissing cousin to sadness, the precursor to anger, perhaps. Often, disappointment isn’t recognized as such until it becomes one of the others, perhaps even depression or inertia. Are you feeling disappointed? And if so, what can you do about it? 

• Call emotions by their right names. Naming emotions has been shown to have numerous benefits, including simply defusing the emotion itself. There’s a lot of power in a name. Disappointment is generally a response to an external event, so it can be easier to spot than some others. 
• Once you’re aware that it is disappointment, look more deeply at the catalyst. 
• Consider the information you've learned. Disappointment tells you what really matters to you. Act on that!

How do you handle disappointment?