The Purpose in Disappointments

Through our disappointments, the Source of Life—God—is communicating something important: things relatively unimportant—those selfsame disappointments, for instance—are threatening to subsume our focus, our alacrity, our joy, our purpose.

There is something deeper that our disappointments highlight.

In our greed to maximise and covet everything we take small things at the expense of throwing larger things to the dogs. This is true of human nature. We want everything we can see. If we’re not praying, “Lord, deliver me from the temptation of this covetousness,” the Lord cannot heal our blindness to the eternal things according to our mindfulness not to want everything we can see. We need to be aware of what to reject hand over fist.

Seeing Beyond Disappointment

Disappointments are tests of our allegiance. Do we get stymied in the mud of the disappointment or do we see the test for what it is—a test to be simply thwarted—and so to go up-flow, along and with the river?

Surviving tests is living beyond them, ever mindful of them, but looking over the top of them—seeing them for what they are; a trick designed to take our minds off our real purpose.

Our real purpose is to keep floating, buoyantly as possible, so we can flow with and along the river of life.

Another metaphor that works for many people is the game metaphor; especially if we view life competitively, as many of us do.

Seeing Life As A Game

Allowing ourselves the privilege and audacious freedom to see life as a game—even a sporting game; perhaps a ballgame—we see disappointments as turnovers. We don’t hang our heads in the instant reminiscence of a turnover, when the other side have possession of the ball; no, we chase. We chase not our opponent, but the ball.

Disappointments are nothing to lament about—they’re more just to learn from, and get better at. We have everything to gain by chasing after the ball again; there are goals to score, after all. Possession of the ball is the name of the game and we can’t recover through sulking.

The competitive edge regarding disappointments is our key. Disappointments should make us more determined than ever—there are goals in life to score!

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Disappointments are not the end of the story. They may even punctuate our stories. There is a deeper lesson to be learned in taking disappointments positively. If such tests won’t keep us down, what can? The best of life remains.

© 2012 S. J. Wickham.

Graphic Credit: Noukka Signe.