My hiatus from writing on this blog was only due to the fact that I was IN THE HAPPINESS ZONE IN ITALY FOR A MONTH. You can read more about me fulfilling my dream in my Italy Retreat Blog.

Lenora’s Three Ways to Handle Disappointments and Expectations

1. Look at the things you like

For Italy, I romanticize its values as though it’s a utopia. I don’t complain about the government, nor the high unemployment, or how many people make up answers, or their relaxed work ethic. It’s hard to get anything done there. Because their primary goal is to enjoy life, this makes it difficult to get things done in a hurry.

No, I’d rather thrive on the la dolce vita part (the sweet life), the love part. The poster in my apartment in Italy was a picture of Albert Einstein with the quote, “Gravity cannot be blamed for people falling in love.” Who is to blame? Cupid and the muses? God? The evil spirits playing tricks on our beating hearts? Tricking us into thinking that what we expect in love will greet us and stay with us all the days of our lives? Love is the greatest force in the world, then why does it disappoint so often? Love is volcanic force. A force like the volcano under Yellowstone National Park. Love may disappoint if we have expectations that we’re attached to, but love is the purpose of life on earth. It is what binds us to each other.

2. Go do something else, something that knocks the socks off your feet.

Shake it up like marbles in a can. As a kid, I remember saving marbles and loving the designs and colors like green cats eyes and solid royal blue. Marbles don’t disappoint. I shook up my usual, and taught a course in Italy and then studied Italian for three weeks.

Expectations are okay if you don’t get attached to them. Like the barnacles on the whale or the boat. How do they stay on just sucking and hold on for dear life? No expectations, great expectations, drop the expectations, to heck with the expectations!

3. Find the good in everything

Remember the story about the teen who was given a horse and everyone said, “that was good luck”. Then, he fell off the horse and broke a limb and everyone said, “that was bad luck”. The army came through the village and all the young men were drafted except the teen with the broken limb. “That was good luck,” everyone said. The boy said, “Good luck, bad luck, who knows?” No matter your circumstances, you can begin the practice of choosing to be happy, finding the good in everything, and enjoying your life.
It’s not the expectations, but the attachment to them that can hurt. What are your expectations? How do you dream big, have expectations for greatness, yet handle the disappointments?

Find out more on my free teleclass, Thursday, December 3, 2009 at 7pm eastern. Register

Photo: Hunchback that brings good luck holding up a marble pillar in San Anastasia Church in Verona, Italy

Learn more about traveling to Italy on Lenora’s Italy Retreats For Women
Find out more about Lenora’s Sweet Life Workshops and Sweet Life Happiness Coaching.

You are welcome to reprint, copy, or distribute Lenora Boyle’s article, provided author credit is included.