Have you ever been in a relationship that left you feeling disappointed? Used? Unsatisfied? Hurt? Mistreated? Forgotten? Left out? Under- appreciated? Un-noticed? Judged? Or misused?
Maybe this stems from a parent who abandoned you, a sibling who rejected you, friends who disappointed you, a spouse that violated your trust or family members who felt more like strangers. Although this might look different for many of us, the reality is, we've all experienced relational disappointment at some time in our life. It's that soul crushing experience that leaves our expectations unfulfilled and our hearts broken and half empty.
I've realized in the last several months that one of my biggest struggles has come from expecting far more from others then they were willing {or capable} of giving and because of this I've found myself stuck in the darkness of relational disappointment.
'I thought they would understand.'
'I thought they would have support me.'
'I thought they would have been there for me.'
'I thought they were dependable'
'I thought they were loyal'
'I thought they were a Christian!'
'I thought they could be trusted'
My list could go on forever, and your list might look different but these are a few from my own personal experiences.
I love deeply, I'm loyal and I give my whole heart and mind to things and people regularly. My general expectation is that others would meet that same need for me and the standard would be reciprocated but far too often the reality has been something totally different and at times the results have been earth shattering to me.
My list of ‘I thought' quickly turned into phrases like;
‘I should have known better’
‘They’re all the same’
‘I knew it’
‘How could I have been so stupid’
‘This is why I don’t let people in’
And so on and so on. Feelings of brokenness, regret and frustration overtake my mind and cloud my judgment. Before I know it, I’m surrounded by a sea of ‘should have, could have, would have's [&] 'they will never fool me twice’ thoughts.
Unfortunately relational disappointment is real and no matter how awesome a person is, they are still just human and they will disappoint you. The key is getting through this disappointment better, not bitter.
Through the brokenness, through the emptiness, through the hurt and through the pain I have realized that maybe, just maybe the 'friend' I was searching for, the relationship I was missing isn't actually missing at all. Maybe what I'm looking for is just hidden within me. Maybe the longing I had was really a longing to see the woman deep within me revealed. Maybe the disappointment that I faced wasn't because of what others couldn't be, but rather an underlying feeling of what I should be and couldn’t seem to express.
Could it be that the friend I've been looking for all this time was hidden deep within me?..
Could it be that what I was looking in others was actually nestled deep within my own soul?..
The person who loves and encourages me, the one who motivates and inspires me, the one who sees the best in me and pulls it out. The person who is trust worthy, faithful and kind, fierce and strong, wise and courageous. Could it be that that person is within me, waiting to be discovered?
The world needs more love, more joy, more hope, more peace, more encouragement, more inspiration, more consistency. Could it be that you are the very expression of those things that this world is missing?
After countless disappointment and endless frustration, I realized something. If I couldn't find her, I would be become her.
I would be the very expression of all things lovely that I desperately wanted to see within my friends, my family and my community. I would wait no longer to find it, I would simply be it.
While I am waiting, so is the world... I couldn't find her, so I became her.
