Unfortunately, life is full of disappointments. Disappointments range from getting COVID and canceling plans to getting a C on the test you thought you aced. Dissatisfaction is found in every aspect of life, and instead of trying to prevent it from happening, we should embrace it and learn how to handle the emotions that come with it. According to Anna Lee Beyer (2023), learning how to process emotions and deal with disappointment begins early, with parents’ guidance. Parents should not try to shield their children from all types of blows. Instead, they should validate their child’s feelings, empathizing with them while not giving into whining that will give the child what they want. Parents must allow their kids to express their feelings, and they must support them, not encourage them to hide their disappointment. It is hard to see a child struggle when disappointed, but it will help them, allowing them to deal with emotions and overcome hardship.
I think this lesson about disappointment can relate to our lives as teenagers in high school. We are focused on receiving academic validation. We work hard and study to get good grades on tests and papers, and we want to be rewarded with a good quality that tells us we did a good job. Unfortunately, with this drive and desire for success, we are quickly disappointed when we receive grades lower than our expectations. Speaking from personal experience, I think my grades in school reflect a lot on my success, and getting a bad grade is a big disappointment. Although we cannot change the fact that bad grades disappoint us, I think we can change how we view it. Like how parents teach their children to embrace disappointment, our grades can disappoint us. We should allow ourselves to process how it makes us feel and not hide our emotions. Doing this will enable us to move on and learn from what happened, hopefully doing better in the future, but also helping us not be as disappointed next time we do not get our ideal grade.