How do you deal with disappointment, pain, rejection, and the grief that these can bring?

A friend and I were talking today about this. She just called it quits with the man she was seeing and we were discussing the different ways people deal with these issues.

At one point in the conversation, I had said to her that spending time in pain is a choice. And frankly, I don’t quite get the appeal.

If I understood her correctly, I believe spending time in the pain surrounding the end of this relationship helps brings her to new depths of clarity. This clarity then allows her to move forward from that pain. So for her, the pain of disappointment, rejection and grief can be a gift that moves her forward.

For me, and–I am admittedly very cerebral–my process is acknowledging my pain, choosing to focus on uncovering the thinking causing the pain, identifying what was missing for me in the situation that caused my dissatisfaction, and then coming up with strategies that help me focus on the happiness and pleasure in my life. This is what helps me move forward. The pain of disappointment, rejection and grief can be a gift.

We both do our best to consciously move towards the gift that the pain is offering.

I’m positive there is not one “right” way. What I do know is that I often see other people spending time with their pain–delving deeply into it–but seemingly never really moving forward from it.

Coleman Barks in his book, The Soul of Rumi, said: “There is a shedding that’s healing, that makes us more alive, a grieving required to enter the region of unconditional love.

“The heat in the oven cooks us to a loaf that’s tasty and nourishing for the community. Rumi is always affirmative about grief and disappointment, mad with the YES inside all the no’s.

“Rumi eats grief and the shadow and metabolizes them into his bewildered, surrendered self, then tries to live simply and generously from there.

“Rumi said: ‘I’ve broken through to longing now, filled with a grief I have felt before, but never like this.'”

I believe the difference is being conscious about your intention.

What do you think?

With Love,
Beth

You find out more about Coleman Barks and his book, The Soul of Rumi, by going to his website at: http://www.colemanbarks.com

Who is in charge of your life?

Does your [tag-tec]happiness[/tag-tec] ever seem outside of your control? Have you ever blamed your unhappiness on someone else? If  so,

Did this person make large amounts money for you, amass your debts, form your relationships with others, and develop the behavior and attitude you have right now? We think not!

But who did? Yes, we’re talking about YOU!

If you are sick and tired of feeling like a puppet on a string, try this. The next time you find yourself blaming outside circumstances for the quality of your life, try identifying where you’re responsible for actions you’ve taken that helped create the situation.

You can do it!

Taking responsibility may seem uncomfortable or even unsafe at first, but it’s not that hard, you can do it! Once you do, you can start creating new experiences–experiences that we can almost guarantee you’ll enjoy more. No blaming or judging others, no disconnection from the ones you love.

“All that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the direct result of his own thoughts.”
~ James Allen

The first step is to notice when you find yourself in the middle of an undesirable situation. Use the experience to get a better understanding of what is important to you–figure out what’s missing in the experience that makes it less than comfortable. Then figure out what actions you can take to help you get those missing ingredients.

Save your time and energy–stop playing the blame game. Look at your past experiences and decide whether you want to do something to make this difference in your future, or not.

Try it this week. Once you’ve recognized something you want to change, take action. If you’d like a little more help figuring out how to do this, read our article:
How You Can Stop Being “Right” and Start Being Happy!

Are You Getting In Your Own Way When Attempting to Achieve Your Goals?

Did you ever really, really want something, and try very hard to get it, only to be let down in the end because you were unsuccessful? If so, did this leave you staring blankly the face of your own frustration and disappointment?

This happens to everyone, but there are things you can do that will help you stand up, dust yourself off and get back in action much more quickly.

When you focus on one thing and direct all of your energy toward this specific goal, it is easy to forget what it is that you really want–the bigger picture. Then, if the specific action doesn’t produce the results you want, you’re bound to have a difficult time of it.

Things just don’t always turn out exactly the way we hope or the way we want. But that doesn’t mean your efforts were wasted–and focusing on how disappointed you are probably isn’t the best way to handle your disappointment.

There is an Alternative

Another way to deal with that kind of common disappointment is to discover your underlying values. What were you hoping to experience that had you set that goal in the first place?

Understanding what you are truly trying to get can help you see that your efforts haven’t been in vain and that you actually might even be getting closer to your big picture goals than you were before.

“Life’s up and downs provide windows of opportunity to determine your values and goals. Think of using all obstacles as stepping stones to build the life you want.”
~ Marsha Sinetar

What’s Your Big Picture?

Think about the ultimate outcome you’re hoping for, rather than the tiny steps that don’t really show the big picture. One thing we’ve found that helps is to create a conscious intention that will help guide you toward your big picture outcome.

When many of us think about creating intentions, we think about them in therms of a goal or specific outcome. When we say create an intention, we truly are talking about an intention for the big picture–why you want any short term goal–what you want to experience in your life.

Your big picture might be to experience more peace and harmony in your life. It could be to create more cooperation with your coworkers, or have more fun and experience more caring with your romantic partner.

The big picture related to any of these intentions may involve many people and could be achieved by many different strategies. But, when you create a clear values based intention, it opens the door to a wide variety of options that you might not have been aware of otherwise.

When you have many options available to you, you are much less likely to become disappointed if one particular strategy doesn’t work out.

Are You Limiting Yourself?

Have you ever wanted something and put real effort into getting it, only to end up disappointed because it didn’t quite work out the way you had hoped? If so, you’re not alone.

Many people focus their thoughts and efforts on one particular thing that they want and then lose sight of the bigger picture. They end up blinding themselves to all the good things that are actually happening in their lives because they can only see the one outcome that they initially imagined.

More times than not, things don’t always come in the exact form that we expect. Rather than giving in to disappointment, focus instead on the underlying importance of what you want–see the bigger picture. Be open to experiencing the miracles that come as the result of your efforts.

“In the measurement world, we set a goal and strive to achieve it. In the universe of possibility, we set the context and let life unfold.”
~ B. Zander, The Art of Possibility

Start creating big picture intentions instead of focusing on just one particular outcome.

The kind of intention we’re talking about expresses the values or quality of life you want to experience, while a specific outcome describes particular people, actions, and set time frames required to accomplish something.

As an example, an open intention might sound something like: “I intend to create a more peaceful, harmonious life.” This creates a bigger picture with many options for getting what you want. This can be much more satisfying than a specific outcome intention such as: “I’m going to find a new job by the end of the month.” With this intention you are limited to the options of finding a new job or being disappointed.

Once you have created your big picture intention, then it’s time to identify actions you can take that will support you in creating what you want.

This week… if you hear yourself saying “I want…” ask yourself the question: “Is this a big picture intention, or am I limiting myself?” and see what occurs to you.

With love,
Beth and Neill