When you are experiencing disappointment, the first key is acceptance. Do not fight it. There always is a relief in this. The second key point is alertness, becoming alert to what is happening. The third key point is leaving the explanation open. The fourth key point is mourning for the loss and the last key point is committing yourself to action. So, let us talk about each of these.
When disappointment is evident, things are not turning out as you had planned. It is not going to happen that way, and it may not happen at all. Accepting this enables you to step back from the experience and become truly observant of your environment, the situation at hand and your own response. This empowers you immediately because it gives you the freedom and the strength to become a witness. This enables you to become alert.
One of the most profound and important aspects in all of your education, regardless of what you do in life, is alertness. It seems so commonplace that no one thinks of it when they talk about personal development, spiritual training and so forth. People talk about awareness, but awareness is not the same as alertness.
Once you become accepting and are alert, then you can begin to witness what is happening. The next important point is to leave the explanation open. For those of you who have taken courses and read books, it is very tempting to give an explanation immediately. “I know why this is happening. It is for this reason. This must be about this. That must be about that.” When you do this, you cease to be alert. You now become complacent again with your explanations. Leaving the situation unexplained enables you and requires you to be alert. Now you must watch. Life has your attention.
Then comes mourning. It is very good to mourn for a loss, but not for too long—intensely for a short period of time. Mourning is embarrassing and belittling to your idea of yourself, but it enables you to take the next step. Remember, if you are alert, you can know what is happening. You now can follow each step. You just do not have an explanation yet. Then you reach a position to be ready for action, for each disappointment opens a new door—perhaps something you had never thought of or perhaps something you had thought of at the very beginning of your life and now it is there awaiting you, as a new opportunity.
Mourning is especially evident in relationships because there is so much disappointment here, yes? Where there is ambition there is disappointment. We don’t want to discourage your ambition. We wish for it, instead, to lead to its conclusion. Many people want to know the purpose of their lives, the meaning of their experiences and the meaning of the events occurring around them, but you cannot know these things from the surface of your mind. You must be taken deeper.
