Disappointment

For several moments off and on all day, I have been thinking about disappointment. According to Webster, it means discontent, disillusion, regret, dissatisfaction, setback, displeasure... In plain old down-to-earth speak, it means "my dreams have just gone out the window!"
Remember back when you were young? All the wonderful things you planned to do with your life - the goals you had made - the big dreams? Oh, boy, all the excitement that comes with the planning, preparing, the adventure. Then one day you woke up to the realization that many of those things have not come true. I have no proof, but somehow I think disappointment is greater in childhood.
Wow! Am I trying to depress you? No, not really. Just spending a few moments trying to soothe the heartache I have had today. You know, write it out and it will make you feel better. (An explanation may be appropriate for the writing of this particular blog: My granddaughter just found out today that she is highly allergice to horses, and she was taking riding lessons. She was preparing to learn to show the horses at fairs, etc. Of course, she is suffering such disappointment, and thus, my heartache for her.)
Disappointment is always a bummer, but for a child it can be life altering. As adults we are mature enough to eventually deal with it, but a child just doesn't have those coping mechanisms yet. Of course, there are times when we cannot protect our children or grandchildren from disappointment. It is a fact of life. And, as my son says, the old cliche' "It can be a stepping stone or a stumbling block" is still true.
The key, of course, is how we react to disappointment. It can bring bitterness, and as Webster says, disillusionment. We can let it harden us, make us distrusting, distant, unfriendly, disbelieving, and if we are not careful, in the extreme, hopeless. It will make us unwilling and afraid to dream. It slowly disintegrates us by making us believe that dreams cannot come true. But, (and I say this loudly), for every disappointment, there can be a new beginning, a new dream. We must never stop dreaming, trying, reaching, experiencing life as it comes - good or bad. And it is so expedient to restore dreaming to a child who has suffered a devastating disappointment.
We can learn from dreams fulfilled and dreams unfulfilled. If we cannot do what we have tried, if we cannot accomplish the thing that we wanted to do so much, we must realize that in the big picture, God has a perfectly legitimate reason for not allowing it to happen. (I'd like to add that I realize that some people think we should not spiritualize everything that happens in our lives, but I do not totally agree with that. Although, for a nine year old, great wisdom and care needs to be carried out when dealing with any problem. I agree with Kimberly in that maybe one can learn compassion for others through the things we suffer ourselves.) At the time, we may not want to hear it, but in his mercy he may have protected us from physical harm, spiritual harm, and even emotional scarring by preventing the dream from coming true. We only see the now, but God knows what would happen if we continue down the road to the fulfillment of that dream. If it is not of his will, we truly would not want to see it fulfilled.
We think nothing could be wrong with our wonderful dream or desire, our want to accomplish good things that will color our lives beautiful. As adults, we know that true surrender is when we hand the paintbrush over to God and in total commitment and submission to his will allow him to paint the canvas of our lives; believing that he has our best interests at heart. Truly, he can paint a masterpiece -looked at a sunset lately?