Life consistently turns out to be something different from our expectations. We are reminded of our apparent lack of control at every turn and left wondering about the intersection of agency and fate. How much of life do we get to control, and how much is just being responsible for our reactions to what is happening to and around us?
Several conversations lately have made me realize that we are all experiencing a degree of disappointment right now. What a strange thing for all of humanity to be more or less disappointed at the same moment:
Some of us are realizing how challenging this summer will be without the trips or fun events we had planned for our families.
How many graduates are grieving the loss of their final months of school, and now graduation has been all but taken from them?
“Disappointed” fails drastically to describe many small business owners as they watch years of hard work, hopes and dreams slip away.
And there are so many other disappointments, large and small, I could describe (probably around 7.8 billion).
How do we deal with disappointment? How do we find the strength and determination to keep going even if things turn out different from our expectations?
We do.
We reach into that reserve of deep inner strength that knows we can accomplish so much more than we ever thought possible.
We look into the past and see the incredible strength of those who have gone before us. Those heroes were not super-humans. They were regular-every-day-coffee-drinking people who accomplished great things in the face of unbearable challenges.
We call on a Higher Power to give us strength even greater than what we find in our own reserves. We find strength to fly like eagles, to run without becoming tired, to walk for miles without fainting.
We learn to release our grip on what we cannot control,
to lean in—with grit and determination—where we can,
to grieve the loss of things taken from us—for a time—
and then rise up and face the day even when the day seems like more than we can take.
Be strong, my friends, in your battle against disappointment, and know that you are not alone.
As a lifestyle family photographer, I am disappointed for the lost opportunities in the past couple months but thankful for the time and space the stay-at-home order provided for learning and growing in my craft.
I am currently scheduling outdoor sessions and would love the opportunity
to capture the beauty of your family's connections. Please reach out to schedule a session.
