The opportunity of disappointment

Sometimes things don't go the way we want them to; sometimes we see this coming and sometimes we don't.

I think disappointment can be felt so strongly because it is the un-fulfilment of our hopes, dreams and expectations, things that all run deep within us. Often hopes, dreams and expectation have been growing within us for years, getting bigger and bigger and growing with anticipation. But when this bubble filled with hope and dreams is burst after so long, you are left with empty space with all you're hopes and dreams scattering the floor of your stomach.

Empty space is something we are often not used to and this can makes it frightening and leaving us confused.

However, what we struggle to see is that this empty space gives us some clarity.

Clarity to see that maybe what we thought we wanted was not actually what we truly wanted. Clarity to see that perhaps we are looking for success in the wrong place. Clarity to see that the hopes and dreams that made us un-fulfilled, were because they were based on the hopes and dreams of others.

This clarity provides us with a chance to change, reassess the world and look to new horizons that before, were invisible

So if you've been disappointed today, whether it be because you didn't receive the results you wanted or because someone failed to show up when they said they would, don't worry. Easier said that done but when them nagging thoughts of anxiousness, confusion and disappointment run through your head just stay calm and look to the horizon (Where ever it may be) and let it remind you of the new horizons you can now see within yourself

Life is not a conveyor belt

'Don't put all your eggs in one basket'

But that seems exactly what a lot of young people feel pushed to do. A few weeks ago I had a careers programme at school, most of the hour was spent saying how well the school had done last year for getting X amount of students into 'insert prestigious university here', then about 10 minutes was spent calculating where we'd all fit in the schools grand master plan to get us all into some form of higher education and 5 minutes was spent glazing over the other options open to us. I felt like we were being pressured into university, it even felt as though it had already been decided for me,

Don't get me wrong, I think higher education is a great thing, amazing in fact but it made me a little sad to see how little time was spent looking at all the vast possibilities open to us as young people. I sat there and felt as though we were being carted along a conveyor belt being sorted by a careers adviser into good and bad eggs. Simply products of an examination factory ready to transported to the university deport. But life isn't that simple. Human beings are complex and then can't be sorted nor put a straight running production line, because unlike eggs we can decided to get off that conveyor belt, we can decided to stay on it, we can decided we want to leave now and return later and we can decide that we liked a join a different line.

What that conveyor belt really represents is life. We need to stop thinking about life as a linear pathway but a path that can twist and turn, bend back on itself, expand and contract sideways and constantly change. So if you feel pressured into taking what seems like the only path in or feel as though your going down a certain path because it's the 'expected thing' then stop for a moment. Realise that though you may feel people will judge because you don't have degree, is this going to make you happy? Is this what you want? If yes, keep going with your dreams, and if no - then the path your are on is not right for you. It's time to change direction and onto another journey, Not a failed one, not an unworthy one, just a different one. And believe it or not... different is okay