Episode 21: “Disappointment Doesn’t Mean Detour: Growing Through the Letdowns”

Feeling let down by delays, closed doors, or dreams that didn’t go as planned? This episode is for YOU.  

We’re unpacking how to:

 Process disappointment without shame

 Reframe setbacks as setups

 Keep growing even when the plan changes

Just because it didn’t work out how you hoped doesn’t mean it won’t work out for your good.  

You’re not off course—you’re being refined on purpose.

#ChangeChasers #PurposeInProgress #GrowthMindset #FaithForward #PodcastEpisode #DisappointmentToDestiny

Faith in Action // Change in Motion

Transcript

0:14

Well, hey, hey, hey. Welcome back. Change chasers y'all. I know it's been a hot minute since I have been on here spending time with you guys and getting to be a part of your day. Maybe your car rides or. Your runs or your walks or just whenever you listen to podcasts. And I just wanna say thanks for coming back for another episode. I'm grateful to be back. I unfortunately have had some tough things that have happened over the course of this past month, and so with that, I've had to kind of put the podcast on the back burner, I guess you might say, between sickness and unfortunately, I've suffered a back injury. And I also unfortunately had a whole deal of trying to care for my kitty cat that was 15 years old. He accidentally got ran over and he lived, uh, so we spent five weeks of trying to help him bounce back, and unfortunately he did not. And so it's just kind of been different things between working camps and all the things. And so rather than. Getting too nitty gritty and sharing some sad stuff. I'll just say thanks again for jumping back on here. I'm sorry that I have missed. I wanna say thanks for all of those people who have been reaching out and saying, Hey, where's this week's episode? Missing a missing you. I'm wanting you to kind of get back at this, Mandy. So. Y'all. That's so encouraging. So I just wanna say thank you. Thank you, thank you. And so with that said, we're gonna jump right on into today's episode with the title Disappointment Doesn't Mean Detour with the idea that y'all, we can continue to be growing through the Letdowns. And so with that, I know that. I will say that it's not always easy to deal with disappointment, right? Whether it's a dream that fell flat, maybe a door that didn't open, or a plan that just didn't go your way, it stings, doesn't it? So I know that the truth of the matter is, is that disappointment, though I really, truly believe from all of my life experiences that I know disappointment is not the end. It's often the beginning of something deeper, something stronger, and even something better. So y'all, let's unpack how to grow while we go, even when things don't go the way that we hope for. So let's jump right on in. Now. Hot take number one. Here we go. The reality of disappointment. So with thinking about the reality of disappointment, first off, let's be real, y'all. If you are chasing change, you're signing up for some degree of disappointment, you're probably nodding your head like, mm-hmm. Yep. I feel that because y'all chasing change means stepping into the unknown, taking risk and believing for more. Sometimes what we believe for it just doesn't happen. At least maybe it doesn't happen in our preferred timeline, right? Or even an our preferred way. And so what I wanna encourage you guys with today, as well as myself, is that disappointment is not a sign that you missed it. It might just be a sign that you're being molded for it. So thinking about that, I wanted to kind of make this reference of thinking about a seed that is planted in the ground. Y'all, it looks like it's being buried, right? And it has been buried, I guess, in all reality. But in, the context of what's happening here is that when a seed is being planted, y'all, then it gets to grow, right? So it's planted for growth and sometimes our disappointment is doing the same thing. It's not the end of our story. It's just the chapter that we are going through. And so when we're going through something, it gives us the opportunity to embrace that, Hey, I'm going through this, but I'm also going to grow through this. So jumping in hot, take number two, dealing with disappointment in real time. So what do we do when we're right in the middle of disappointment? Well, I wanted to hit you with three change chaser mindset shifts. That can hopefully help you to make it through the toughest of times, so number one, acknowledge it without shame. Say it out loud. Hmm. Okay. Huh? This didn't turn out how I'd hoped. You're allowed to feel that way, friends. You're human. But my encouragement to you is don't stay in the shame. Disappointment doesn't mean that you're weak. It means that you care deeply. Y'all. I believe that caring deeply is a strength. Number two, ask what it's teaching you. Because every letdown, I believe in my own personal life, and I think if you really stop and think about it enough, but you would probably agree with the whole idea of this statement, that every letdown comes with a lesson. And so with those lessons, then I love the encouragement of asking ourselves questions such as, what am I learning about myself? What did this reveal about my values or expectations and where is there room to grow? Change chasers, y'all. You don't just react, you reflect. So number three, refocus on what you can do. A lot of times the world tells us all the things that we can't do. I can't do this, I can't do that. Right? But what if we refocus on what we can do? Because sometimes doors close to redirect your feet. Disappointment may block a path, but it doesn't block every single path, right? So ask yourself, what's still in my control? What step can I take next? Even if the big picture is foggy or even uncertain, maybe you can't even see the end at all. Here's the reality, y'all. Your next faithful steps, they matter. Your future self needs you to have the courage to continue to get up and take the next step. So that has me jumping in on hot. Take number three, reframe and reignite I wanna share a simple framework that I call reframe and reignite. It's what I do when disappointment hits. I've been doing it a lot in the last three weeks. Reframe your perspective instead of. Saying, Ugh, I failed. We'll say that sometimes, but what if you reframe it to say, this is feedback for the future. Instead of God said no, say, wow. Maybe this is protection or preparation. Instead of, I'm done, I'm out. Peace out home fry. Then maybe you can say, I'm being rerouted with purpose. The whole idea is to encourage you guys to think about how you can reignite your passion. Pull back to your why. Why did you start this journey in the first place? What was the vision? The heartbeat. Because disappointment dims the light, but remembering your why can help reignite the fire, fire, fire, right? And listen, y'all. In all seriousness, I know that chasing change isn't about perfect outcomes. It's about faithful forward motion. It's about becoming who you're called to be in the process. So I wanna encourage you with this change chaser challenge for this week with the idea of calling it from setback to set up. Choose one area of your life where you felt let down lately, maybe your career, your relationships, your health. Maybe even your faith. Now, reframe it by writing a new statement that begins with, this is not a setback, it's a setup for, and you fill in the blank. This is not a setback, it's a setup for, and again, Fran, you fill in the blank of whatever it is that you wanna do. With this whole idea of encouraging yourself to go from a setback to a setup. And so my encouragement then is, hey, your bonus points that you'll get in the air High 5 cent wherever you're at, is shared on social media. Put hashtag change chaser challenge to inspire someone else who may be stuck because what you have to say, what you have to share, y'all, it matters in case nobody's told you that today, I hope that you take that to heart. And now at this time, I wanna leave you with some closing encouragement. Friends. If you are in a season of disappointment right now, I want you to know you're not disqualified, you're not behind, you're not forgotten. You are being shaped, you are being strengthened, and you are still chasing change, even if it feels just a little too slow. I know sometimes Snell pace is not what we want in life. We're ready to go cheetah pace at different times in our life. But I do wanna encourage you, sweet friend, pick your head up. Breathe, let go of what didn't work, and grab hold of what's next because the road ahead still holds promise. And as long as you keep growing y'all, you're still going in the right direction. Until next time, change chasers. I wanna encourage you, will you keep chasing purpose? Will you keep showing up and will you keep believing that the best is yet to come Y'all, let's keep chasing change and living with purpose. Goodbye sweet friends.