Opportunity’s Formation Out of Disappointment

Unexpected things occur in our lives all the time, but when something happens with drastic ramifications we’re sure to be tempted out into the lake of disappointment, and to tend toward the rapids of resentment that take us, bereft of peace, into a stagnant creek-land of indignant anger.

Disappointment is founded upon a nasty surprise, most often because our expectations received a jolt.

***

It’s easy to see how we’re found without space,

When all along we’ve expected plenty of grace,

But the movement of life has its quirks and turns,

So the person who’s humble simply picks up and learns.

***

It’s too easy to become disappointed in life. It’s about as common a reaction to things that don’t go well as we can imagine. And of course our expectations are behind our disappointment, so the higher the expectation the more disappointed we will be when things don’t go well.

Perhaps it is not an answer for us to have low expectations, just more realistic ones. But it is sometimes very difficult to discern what the right level of expectation is.

Additionally, we always need to be ready for the time when being let down doesn’t exacerbate an already frustrated mind. That is what most people struggle with; the accumulation of disappointments.

If we flip the disappointment on its head we find underneath an opportunity glowing where we would least expect to find it.

Opportunities form out of disappointments; but we have to be ready to think differently.

We have to be ready to see the broader view, for one moment in time—the overbearing landscape of disappointment—is far too wrong a ‘true picture’ (for it appears true) to be relied upon.

Faith Fuels the Opportunity Because of Underpinning Hope

Hope is a beautiful thing. It helps us not to panic in these situations, for when we panic we lose perspective when we need to gain it. Panicking takes us in the opposite direction (into a nomad territory) to that which we need to travel in.

If we have sufficient poise, borne on a sound hope, we don’t panic and we have actually expressed the simplicity of faith. Faith is a very simple thing; an abundantly simple thing.

When faith is the thing we practice, our vision is transformed and opportunities abound. Then we enrol ourselves upon discernment again, so we can choose the opportunity that best serves our need.

***

When we’re enveloped by disappointment, because our expectations haven’t been met, our vision for hope vanishes and good opportunities fly out the door. But when we calm our disappointment in hope—helped by more grounded expectations—we don’t panic and faith is the ensuing expression. Through faith we see more opportunities out of the disappointment, and better than expected things may usually result.

© 2013 S. J. Wickham.