This is my last episode before a summer break with my lady friends so I thought it would be great for this episode to check in on my word of the year: Disappointment. I chose to play with disappointment in 2022 because I recognised it to be the psychological risk I’m most sensitive to. My self doubt is always trying to protect me from being disappointed but as we know, that’s just an illusion of safety. I wanted to be able to sit with disappointment, explore it a bit and get rid of the obligation to just get over it. It’s been a wonderful journey!

So what’s this episode really about? 

• Understanding the root causes of my tendency towards disappointment and the impact that my upbringing had on this.
• What I’ve learned about my own disappointment and how a lot of the circumstances are seemingly petty. 
• The mainstream advice about handling disappointment and why this doesn’t sit right with me.
• How I’ve been practicing sitting in my disappointment and being curious about what I’m actually feeling.
• The revelation of the complexity of emotions I’ve experienced underneath my disappointment.
• Disappointment needs somewhere to go. As adults, we can do this through journaling, talking to a friend, emotional release etc.
• How quickly disappointment can invite us to warp the meaning of any event that causes it.
• The difference between clean and dirty pain and how disappointment plays into this.
• How being more open to disappointment and sitting with it has led to more fun and joy.

Why you should listen

If disappointment is something you’re susceptible to, I hear you friend and this episode is perfect for you. I talk through my own learnings from the year so far as I’ve been open to experiencing disappointment, not just trying to make it go away. We’ll talk through the complexity of emotions underneath disappointment, learning how to sit with it and how doing this can actually help you experience more fun and joy. 

LINKS

Website: https://selfbelief.school/class/

You can quote me on that…

“I don’t want to anticipate disappointment before something’s even happened.” - Sas Petherick

“Disappointment, unlike a lot of other emotional states, is not a clean and tidy emotion.” - Sas Petherick

“Disappointment sometimes needs somewhere to go.” - Sas Petherick

“I’m just less bothered by being disappointed than I was in January. And as a consequence of that, I’m just having a lot more fun.” - Sas Petherick

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Previous episode mentioned: 

Word of the year (but make it disco)

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit saspetherick.substack.com