Blog #649: The Days That Didn’t Happen

Disappointment.

I’ll never get used to its sting.

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As I write this…

I’m in Ketchikan, Alaska.

My flight over the Alaskan fjords was just cancelled because of the weather.

A few days ago, I was in Sitka. I went on a bear adventure. We saw none.

The biggest disappointment, though, was in Juneau.

I was scheduled to go glacier hiking and dog sledding. I’ve been looking forward to that day – every day – for weeks. I was looking forward to hiking on an iceberg – an unfathomable number of lifetimes old. I was looking forward to getting on my knees and “loving up” every sled dog in the camp. I was looking forward to psyching myself up to climb in a small helicopter and twirl over Alaska’s untouched lands.

None of that happened either.

The weather didn’t allow us to fly.

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Disappointments.

How often they happen, right?

Each of us count numerous disappointments over our lifetime…no doubt. Mine are different from yours; yours are different from mine. But yours and mine can both sag our respective spirits.

The call that never came.

The email that did.

The news that broke our hearts.

The person who did the same.

The opportunity that disappeared.

The problem that didn’t.

Feeling disappointment’s sting is a part of life.

BUT…

How long will we allow its stinger to poison us?

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Now over the age of 100…

Helen Klein, who holds 75 national and world records for running and has run 90 marathons and 143 ultra-marathons, once shared with me her view on disappointment:

“I feel sorry for myself for five minutes…then I move on.”

I hear her words silently in my head now.

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Things often don’t work out as planned.

Disappointment is easy to find.

But…

Hanging out with the feeling TOO long does nothing to make tomorrow great.

Let it go.

I am.

S.