Well dressed businessman.
Briefcase in hand.
Downtown San Francisco on a Monday morning.
Deep in the grip of my lowest life point, I walked back and forth carefully asking
my "fellow man" for change.
Real change.
Quarters, nickels, dimes, pennies, anything rush hour pedestrians headed to work could spare.
"Ex, ex, excuse me. Would you happen to have any change sir/ma'am?"
Most of them hustled and bustled around me. Some dodged me, and from time to time I'd get a "no" with a smile.
Busy crowds don't work for change when you're desperate, so my desperation led me off the main street and onto a lighter traffic road.
Off to the side, I stood near an office building doorway.
Hopping out of a taxi, Mr. Well Dressed Businessman walked right toward me.
I cannot remember what I was wearing, but I can assure you that I was far from clean.
A blind man could see that Mr. Well Dressed was definitely on top of his game in life and that I was wayyyy waayyyyyyy underneath the bottom of mine.
"Sir, can you help with a little..."
Before I could finish my sentence, my face was splattered wet and he was spewing expletives along with the words, "go get yourself a job."
Now, you and I both know I ultimately did much more than his disrespectful attempt at advice suggested. My current life is more than demonstrates it.
But this story is not about my redemption.
No, this story is about how to handle disappointment.
You see, his absolutely unnecessary response to me was absolutely disappointing.
Even as I was living at the lowest of the lowest level in life, I stood there mortified by how disappointing human beings can be.
Thinking about this story prompted me to write a list of the (not so extreme) ways we disappoint one another with the hopes that maybe it will cause us to rethink how our actions affect other people.
Here are 4 major ones...if you have more to add feel free to reply and share them with me:)
1. Gossiping
2. Lying
3. Spreading Rumors
4. Omitting the Truth
The pain that these disappointments cause people often arise when I work with clients in one-on-one sessions.
Together, we tap into their inner strength so they can move thru what happened to them, just like I had to tap into my inner strength to move thru what happened to me that Monday morning in San Francisco.
But if humans can be strong enough to bounce back, maybe we can be strong enough not to settle for disappointing behaviors in the first place.
We all know we're better than spitting (disappointment) at each other.
Why not give our best behavior a shot?
With love and light always,
xoxo
Elle