How Do You Deal with Disappointment?

I've found that when I "fight" feeling the disappointment my feelings are more intense and last longer. What works for me is to say something like, "OK, I'm disappointed", sigh and move on to thinking about something else. I used to try to talk myself out of the feeling by saying such things as "it should be no big deal. Don't let it get you down. I have no reason to feel this way. Just stop it." etc. Only added guilt on top of the disappointment.

Because you said that you pray and know that your blessings come from God, I will share what I believe to be Biblical truth about disappointments and trials.
God uses trials and disappointments to sanctify us. How do we respond when we are disappointed or suffering a loss? Do we fret and dispair? Or do we turn to the Lord, trusting that He knows what is best for us? I think we ought to trust Him, and be thankful, even when it seems like a bad thing. He has a reason for everything. I believe that God is sovereign, and therefore, everything comes from His good and perfect hand. I don't think He just let the earth spin and He sits back and watches what we do in response. Trust Him that this is a gift to you, even if you don't understand why. He does. This may have ended very badly for you, or whatever. Maybe this other family needed it more than you do. Don't despair over any of it. Trust the Lord, and be thankful, even for this. It will be okay.
Blessings!

I know how you feel, I go through that sometimes too. What really helps me put things into perspective is to remember that everything happens for a reason. You may not have gotten what you wanted this time, but maybe the other person really needed to have something go well for them (seemingly at your expense). Try to make it less about yourself, and more about the other person. If you always focus on the part that sucks for you, the disappointment will be hard to shake.

I applied for a job a few months ago that I was a shoe-in for, and I knew half the staff and my would-be boss. It was a dream job for me. I didn't get it, and I was devastated, upset, and confused because I was told I'd be perfect for the job. Long story short, I met the woman who did get it. I resented her when I met her because she "took my job." But I talked to her for a little while, and it turns out she and her young son moved across the state to get away from her abusive soon-to-be ex-husband, and she wanted to start a new life and give her son a better life. I am glad that she got the job..she needed it more than me. I was disappointed, but someone benefited from the situation. Just because it wasn't me this time, doesn't mean that whatever is coming my way won't fall into place. There's a plan :)

I have been in sales for 20 years and unfortunately every day is filled with people that do not want to change to my company. Every single day! You are marketing your business like I am selling laboratory services. When I lose a sale I have been working on, it is always a learning opportunity and many times there is nothing I could have done. It motivates me to do more, change it up sometimes but really, it's just business and I have learned to brush it off and move on.

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Oooh....I get frustrated when time is wasted like that with no payoff or the end result that was planned for falling through. I HATE wasted time like that. Really irks me. I usually try to shake it by doing something I enjoy doing or calling a friend...not to vent but to lift my spirits.

Good luck and best wishes at having a better week and your daycare spots brimming over really soon!

I don't really think that things happen for a reason. I don't even think it's helpful for me to think that way, because to me, then I'm always waiting (good or bad) for the other shoe to drop.

For me, I just try to live in the moment. I have a job (construction management) where "things happen" ALL the time. No matter how well we plan in advance, there are always unforeseen circumstances that come up, and it is only normal to feel disappointed when things don't go as planned. Rather than dwelling on it, I try very hard to just move forward, develop a plan B, and get going on it. Some days that's easier than others. Some days I come home and decide to have a glass of wine, or a bubble bath, or read a mindless book to try and unwind and take my mind off of it. I try to remember that I have no control over other people's actions, only over my own reaction to them.

As a side note, I've noticed that it's often times a lot harder to let it go when I'm under a lot of stress. A few weeks ago at work I was under a ton of stress, and I found myself waking up in the middle of the night, unable to go back to sleep because I was re-playing events in my mind. As much as I tried to let all of the negativity go, it was clearly preying on my mind and was more than I could handle. As such, I had to take a step back, ask for additional help at work so I could re-adjust my workload and become effective at my job again - sometimes when you are having a really hard time at work, you need to evaluate why that is. Have you bitten off more than you can chew? If so, what can you do about it? How can you regain your work-life balance? If you are working 24/7 in order to bring in more income, are there ways you can reduce your need for this income through other areas of your life? Is this short-term, and you just need to get through a certain period of time? Do you need to hire help in order to run your business and still maintain your sanity? Just some things to mull over. Things will always happen in life, as you know, but if you find you're unable to roll with the punches, it may be time to make some changes.

I get on my soapbox and then after about 5 minutes I yell at myself to get over it because things could be way worse. I also remind myself that there is always someone else who is going through worse things than I am.

I wonder if you can set a limit to how long you spend before getting $.
Perhaps limit yourself to 20 minutes up to 3 times or 1 hour, then they must pay.