A shortage of happiness I hear talked about frequently but I’ve never heard “there is not enough disappointment in my life”. Those words haven’t fallen from my lips either, yet I know disappointment has been a good teacher. Things not turning out the way I thought has often created a pathway to something better. Dealing with being disappointed helped clear away misplaced beliefs, illusions, misconceptions and self-told lies.

Enlightenment is the crumbling away of untruth. It’s seeing through the facade of pretence. Adyashanti

Most people say the opposite of happiness is sadness. However, I believe feeling empty is the reverse of being happy. It is rare I have ever endured sadness that it was not connected to a happiness I had known. Being disappointed may have made me sad, but it never left me empty.

Happiness and sadness are states of feeling. Sadness isn’t in any way less than happy. Their opposite is not feeling at all. We aren’t here to live in a state of nothingness, in apathy, observing life go by. We are here to create something and forge personal relationships. Ara Bedrossian

Once upon a time I feared unhappiness most, followed closely by disappointment. I have come to see it was emptiness where my darkest times were spent. Those were the times when I felt as if I fit no where or with anyone and lacked purpose or direction. Climbing out of those pits of emptiness, brought renewed clarity about what I really wanted and didn’t want.

Fear is the natural reaction that brings us closer to the truth. Don’t fight the pain, let yourself feel it, accept it, love it. Don’t judge your fear, face it. Emotions come and go like trains at a busy station. You don’t have to get on them. You can acknowledge them without judgment and let them move on. Pema Chodron

There is a Chinese proverb that says you can’t keep the birds of sadness from flying over your head, but you can keep them from nesting in your hair. I am grateful for that little bit of wisdom learned the hard way which has taught me so much.

God makes the life fertile by disappointments,
as he makes the ground fertile by frosts.
Henry Ward Beecher