27 Mar Meditation: After a Disappointment

“Being alone with fear can rapidly turn to panic. Being alone with frustration can rapidly turn to anger. Being alone with disappointment can rapidly turn into discouragement, and even worse, despair.”   ~ Mark Goulston

“It is erroneous and disastrous to blame ourselves, to always blame ourselves for the disappointments that come us. We see others have achieved similar goals to ours, others have succeeded in their enterprises and achieved the relationships in life they desire, others have been awarded the prizes they are seeking, there must be something that is lacking in ourselves, we reason, which others have. If we blame ourselves for every disappointment, if every time we are disappointed, we look for more faults and failings in ourselves, we will, before long, acquire a deep sense of inferiority which will eventually mitigate against our own progress and achievement, and actually deter us from the goals that we have placed in our horizon.

There is no human being on earth who is justified in feeling inferior – no matter who or what we are. We are not inferior to anyone else. We may have differences of power, we may have different abilities, but we are not inferior. The world needs our work, it needs the expression of our abilities, no matter what we are.

If we meet disappointments in any manner that makes us unfit for the further demands and experiences of life, we are not living lives that will allow us the experience of joy, of happiness, of deep meaning and purpose. If life had no disappointments, no setbacks, no reverses. How can we ever savor the joy of attainment, the joy of achievement, and the joy of hope realized?

What should happen to us after a disappointment? We should align our spirits with the constructive powers of nature and humanity, and align them in such a way that allows us to grow stronger, wiser, courageous; more capable of meeting life. We should grow more able to savor the joys of life and more cognizant of the triumphs that already exist in our lives.”

By Tehilla Lichtenstein

Shavua Tov,
Rabbi Frank