Life is unpredictable and full of numerous ups and downs. Even though they may seem like they’re just a minor, aggravating setback in your life, sometimes learning from these disappointments helps you learn and become a better person.

When you dip a cookie in milk and the whole cookie falls in, when you spend about five minutes typing an entire link into your browser, but it brings up that awful “Page Not Found” screen, when you’re laughing so hard at a funny picture your friend shows you that your gum falls out of your mouth, when you decide to relax with a bowl of chips and Netflix, but the chips are too crunchy and you can’t even hear the show your binging! How about when you confidently toss a crumpled up piece of paper to a trash can in front of your class yelling “Watch this! 50 bucks if I make it!,” but to your utter disappointment, you miss the shot while EVERYONE is watching. There’s also those random times when you trip, sometimes even when standing, or over a computer wire. When you’re walking in the hallway, but your new sneakers shoelaces come untied and you can’t even stop to tie them without holding up other students. As a result you have to walk strangely to avoid getting tripped. Picture this: Your teacher is giving out awards to your class, you know that the winner will be yourself, so you get up even before the teacher announces your name, but it ends up not being you. What about when you’re facetiming your best friend with incredibly crucial news, but right as you start to say it, your phone dies. As you most likely already know, many disappointments occur everyday, but it’s how you deal with them that counts the most. 

We asked Green Level School Counselor, Mr.Mcauliffe what small scale disappointment he faces on a regular basis, and he told us “Traffic, especially when you get to the end and realize there were no accidents construction going on, and you wonder why there was so much traffic in the first place.” We agree with his statement immensely, as traffic can be a pain. Sophomore Christina Urey described her experience of not completing one math problem in a test, which turned out to be worth the most points.

Always keep in mind that these disappointments are not major tragedies that will ruin your life. They are not meant to destroy you, but strengthen you. Don’t always expect the best of everything, because disappointments are just a part of life that you have to get used to. Although they can be unpleasant at times, in the words of Martin Luther King Jr, “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.”