My family and I were scheduled to take a 4-day Disney Cruise to Cozumel, Mexico this week. 🚢⚓
In fact, we’d be docking in Cozumel on my 39th birthday! 🥳🎁🍰
This was our first cruise and Disney experience, so you can imagine my family’s excitement as the day came closer! 😆
As much as I wish I were writing this post from our private veranda overlooking the ocean ☕🌊… I’m not.
You see, the universe did everything possible to let me know that now was not the best time…so I canceled the cruise we’d been looking forward to all year. 🥺💔
Although I did what I knew was best for my family and me, I was sad, upset, and overwhelmingly disappointed about the situation. 😤😩
Fortunately, the next day was full of errands and events that kept my mind busy and distracted from my disappointment.
Unfortunately, the day after was quiet and boring, which left my brain free to run amuck! 😈🧠
My brain ran wild with thoughts of how unfair everything was, and how I deserved something nice for my birthday, and how I should get myself something nice…
So I decided to get myself a fancy new all-in-one convertible tablet since my laptop recently gave out.
Within 10 minutes I had it in my shopping cart, along with a 4-year protection plan, and a few other “holiday essentials,” and proceeded to click on the Checkout button. 🖱
In the midst of my dopamine-fueled online shopping spree, I recognized what I was doing because I’d done it so many times before:
I was stuffing down my feelings with a box of cookies… 🍪
I was numbing out on pizza and Netflix to take my mind off things…🍕
I was drowning my sorrows in a tub of ice cream after a stressful day at work…🍨
At this point in my weight loss journey, I’m well aware of my tendency to eat for comfort…but apparently I’ve turned to shopping now. 🛍
You see, our brains are sneaky and will say just about anything to keep us from feeling uncomfortable.
So once I recognized the real reason behind my spending binge, I decided I didn’t like that reason and chose to do a What IF? Mindshift on myself instead:
– What IF it’s OK to feel crappy about not getting what you want?
– What IF feeling sorry for yourself doesn’t make you a bad person?
– What IF not getting what you want now means getting more of what you really want in the future? 🤔
Handling disappointment is never a fun experience. 🙅♀️
But handling disappointment without overeating and overspending is worth every minute of it! 🙌
So what about you friend? How do you go about handling disappointment?
If you can relate to this, or have any suggestions for me, I would love to hear from you! 📧
Until then, take care and we’ll connect again soon! 💌
