Disappointment
- 1 minDisappointment is the grave of wishes,
A death of the hope so longed for.
The blood in our veins turn to stone
When all is said, but nothing done.
Gone, gone, gone
Flew the pieces of a shattered heart
The meticulous crafting of a soul
Blowing miles in the wind
Traveling too fast, too far to grasp with my withered hands.
Disappointment is a severed bond
The realization of solitude in this cosmic dissonance.
Away we fall, alone
Into the tumultuous night.
In The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath wrote, “If you expect nothing from anybody, you’ll never be disappointed”. Although this sentiment seems reasonable on the surface, I question whether it’s better to expect more and possibly use my disappointment as a learning experience and motivation, or to lower my expectations while losing an opportunity for growth into a better reality.
I came up with this equation for the relationship between disappointment, expectations, and reality:
disappointment = expectations - reality
If your expectations match your reality, then you don’t get disappointed. If your expectations exceed reality, then you get disappointed. If you expect less than what you get, you get negative disappointment (or a happy surprise).
Of course, this equation is overly simplistic and fails to show how our expectations can help shape a better reality by creating a standard of success. We don’t necessarily have to reach our expectations in order to be satisfied with what we have. However, this equation does remind me to align my expectations with reality by either setting reasonable expectations or furthering my circumstances.