Dissolving the Expectation/Disappoint Syndrome

This is Linda Frazee here to talk to you today about the Expectation/Disappointment Syndrome.

We have all been there. Imagining and expecting that something will be great and then, for a variety of reasons, it isn't. The fall from a high expectation to deep disappointment hurts! The higher the expectation, the more pain.

It happened to me just the other day. This last week was my birthday and I woke up feeling great. I took the day off, so I had all this free time. My husband and I decided we'd go out to breakfast. So we went out to get in the car to go to breakfast and guess what? The car didn't start.

Turns out the battery was dead. We only have one car, so we didn't have an immediate second option. After considering other options like Uber, calling a friend, or borrowing someone else's car, we decided to call AAA to get the car fixed. It was a fairly quick process but the time it took for the repair, it took up the time we could have been out to breakfast.

This is a minor example of an expectation/disappointment experience. When I was younger that might have ruined my day. But now it was just a change of plans. Possibly, because it was my birthday I had more resilience! Some days it is easier to be flexible than others. You may have noticed that!

So now we are in a tense time in our country as we move to Election Day. Undoubtably, large amounts of people will be disappointed in the outcome. A lot of people have a high expectations.

They've invested money, time, energy, and just a lot of thought and prayers and concern on either side. And there's also a lot of fear.

So whoever wins or loses there will be this disappointment.

There's all this buildup, and we're also so tired. At least I am. I'm tired of all the commercials and all the ads and all of that. Then there'll be the election - however it comes out.

So what can you do so that you're not bummed out? So you're not really disappointed. So you're not feeling like all is lost if your candidate doesn't win? How can you be of service to the people who are bummed out if your candidate wins and theirs doesn't? Well, that's a whole workshop in itself, but for today, I want to just talk about how it is that you can stay more balanced during this time.

How do you stay emotionally and mentally balanced with energy of all kinds in the atmosphere? Here are some suggestions:

#1. Plan on the unexpected and be patient.

#2. Take extra good care of yourself in the next few weeks. Exercise, eat better, and meditate and pray every day. Do something grounding every single day, whether that's taking a walk, riding your bike, or moving your body in some way. Going to the gym, going to a class, whatever it is you do. Anything that keeps you connected to yourself, that helps you know you are okay.

#3. Quit scaring yourself. No matter who wins they don't have a magic wand to fix all of the many challenges we face and just know that you will be okay, NO MATTER WHAT!

#4. Notice what isn't changing in your life. Focus on what is stable that you CAN depend on!

I have a new webinar, a four part series beginning Monday, 10/26/2020 at 9:00 AM PT, 10:00 AM MT, 11:00 AM CT, and 12:00 Noon ET. It is called Uncharted Territory - Maintaining your Emotion Sanity During a Global Pandemic and a Contentious National Election. Please consider joining us!

The whole series is recorded so you can watch it live or anytime it works for you. Check it out at www.lindafrazee.com/uncharted

Hang in there,

Linda