Hello again, this is savvy psychologist. I'm Dr. Ellen Hendrickson and every week I'll help you

meet life's challenges with evidence-based research, a sympathetic ear, and zero

judgment.

We all find our soulmate, are successful in our chosen field, fulfill our dreams, and live happily ever after, right?

Not so much.

Occasionally, life is a bed of roses, but often it's a briar patch.

And sometimes we're disappointed in how life turned out.

We weren't supposed to have a chronic health condition, a job we hate but can't leave, a messy divorce, or a complacent adult child living in the basement.

Sometimes we're disappointed in ourselves.

Why did we let opportunity slip through our fingers? Why didn't we follow

through when it counted? Why didn't we try harder? Or we simply look up and wonder, is this all there is?

Regardless, disappointment is a mix of sadness, regret, and anger,

and it surfaces whenever life doesn't meet our expectations.

So, what to do?

Well, in dealing with disappointment, you have two buckets of tools at your disposal,

change and acceptance. Change is self-explanatory. With change tools, you try to

improve your situation. You switch tactics, file an appeal, turn over a new leaf, or otherwise keep trying.

Acceptance, however, requires some explanation.

Acceptance is different than resignation.

Resignation is giving up and passively resigning ourselves to our situation.

Acceptance, on the other hand, is working with life as it is, not as we wish it to be even if we don't approve

of life as it is right now.

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