Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Picking up Pieces

"Your success or failures in life will not be decided by the number of setbacks you encounter, but rather how you react to them. We cannot change our past, we cannot change the fact that people will act a certain way and we cannot change the inevitable. Life is 10 percent what happens to us and 90 percent how we react to it."  Doug Westmoreland

This quote came to me this morning in an email.  I don't know who Doug Westmoreland is, but his quote is spot on today, for I am dealing with the pain of a broken agreement, and the shock of twisted blame.

I know that everyone has setbacks, but sometimes it would be nice to get a break.  I'm not a "why me" sort of person, but...is it okay if I whine for a minute.  Enough is enough.  Isn't it?

Yeah, I had another setback.  I lost ground, I lost a friend, and in the end I was blamed for things I couldn't control.  I've seen this before, but I still don't get it.  Why would someone who didn't keep their committments blame me, when their interest fades? 

Does blaming me make it easier to walk away?  Does whining make it easier for me to pick up the pieces and move on? The word "integrity" comes to mind.  Does whining compromise my integrity?

My disappointment is deep, but I will move on.  According to Doug, disappointment is only 10%.  Moving on is 90%. 

Moving on stinks, but it's really my only option.  Whining helps a little, but not that much.  How do you deal with disappointment?  I welcome suggestions.

Picking up pieces.

Linda Garner



2 comments:

Stephsco said...

I'm also not great at moving on. I hang on to hurts even if I mentally tell myself to move forward. I suppose you have to start somewhere.

Bethany Elizabeth said...

That's a wonderful quote, and it's very true. I often catch myself dwelling on something negative, and making myself feel worse than the situation merits. It's amazing how we'll often feel bad about things because we think we 'should'.
That said, losing friends hurts a lot, I hate the feeling of severance between two close people. There's a fine line between letting ourselves grieve and move on and shoving our feelings down. I don't have it figured out yet - if you figure it, will you let me know? :)
And no, whining doesn't compromise your integrity. I hope things get better!