Disappointment?

Twitter talk this week regarding the Disneyland Half Meetup made my heart skip a beat more than a time or two! Not only did I refresh the Disney Parks Blog occasionally…OK, constantly….I also had runDisney twitter notifications set to pop up as a text on my phone. I even woke up a few times last night and checked the blog each time (just incase)!

At 2:09 this afternoon (I saw someone say it was actually 2:08:55), runDisney sent out a tweet saying their Disneyland Half Meetup blog post was live.

As soon as I saw the tweet, I stopped what I was doing, scanned the blog post as fast as possible (to make sure there weren’t any additions or changes from prior instructions), then hit “send” on the email that waited patiently in the drafts folder for several weeks.

Then……the waiting game began. My heart was racing so fast I just knew it would beat right out of my chest. My stomach was in knots. I couldn’t concentrate. Did my email make it in enough time? I checked the “sent” folder numerous times to make sure the email sent properly.

As I drove home this afternoon, the anticipation and excitement of the whole day was almost too much to contain. I couldn’t look at my phone – didn’t want to check my email until I was in the safety and security of my home (incase bad news was in store).

My husband was cooking dinner and my dogs greeted me as I walked in the back door. What would my inbox contain? In the back of my mind, I kept reminding myself that it might NOT be good news….even so, I couldn’t help but get my hopes up (it was really hard not to)!

My husband looked over my shoulder as I opened the list of names….

Was my name listed?

Wait…what?

I scanned the names a 2nd time…and a 3rd time….

Bummer.

Unfortunately, my name was not on the list.

After texting several friends to let them know the news, I sat in silence for a few moments as the realization sunk in.

It was in that silence that something hit me. I looked around my surroundings and saw my awesome husband in the kitchen cooking dinner. I noticed my sweet Yorkie sitting on my lap with expectant eyes which seemed to say, “You look sad, but I love you anyway”. I also spotted my cocker spaniel sitting patiently at my feet vying for my attention. Then, I thought about a friend’s husband who is injured and doesn’t know if he will be able to run his “bucket list” race this Fall. I thought about a fellow blogger who is going through a tough time with her family. I really stopped and realized…not getting into this meetup is NOT the end of the world. Yes, it was disappointing….but we weren’t promised a life without disappointments. Everything cannot go your way ALL of the time. Life will go on, the meetup with happen, everyone who attends will have a fabulous time (and I’ll enjoy following along on their journey). My vacation and birthday week will be an incredibly fabulous week, meetup or not! 

Sometimes, it takes disappointment (in ANY area of life….a big event, a test, relationships…you getting me here?) to really put it all into perspective and help us remember to be appreciative of everything we DO have. I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling incredibly blessed right now!

Congratulations to everyone who got into the meetup! I can’t wait to follow along via social media! :0)