Disappointment is a part of life that comes up when hopes or expectations aren’t met. All of us feel disappointment at times in our relationships, in other people, and in ourselves. It’s not an easy feeling to sit with, but there are healthy (and unhealthy) ways to cope with this unavoidable emotion.

It might be tempting to handle disappointment by avoiding it altogether. One way to do this is to not have expectations in the first place. But this isn’t realistically possible. Also, expectations are helpful for us in many ways.