Altar
Call – Opelika-Auburn News
Walter
Albritton
June
26, 2016
Just get over it and
move on
Disappointments happen. We stumble. We
fall. We get our feelings hurt. Friends let us down. We shoot ourselves in the
foot.
In miserable moments we experience
anger, frustration and despair. We kick
ourselves. We should have done better. We may even want to die. A cloud of
gloom hangs over us. We are embarrassed. We want to run and hide and never look
another person in the face.
Weary of this misery we finally decide
we have punished ourselves enough. Life is difficult. The past cannot be
undone. We must work our way through these wretched feelings and start living
again. What works for me is to walk away from the mess I have made and start
over.
Just get over it and move on! Worry changes
nothing. Bitterness sours the spirit. Regret must quickly give way to change.
Face reality. Admit it if I have been
at fault. Ask forgiveness if I have offended someone. Take responsibility for
my actions.
If I have done or said something
stupid, I can make amends. I can try again. I can become a more sensitive,
caring person. I can offer others the support and encouragement I wish they
would offer me.
The death of a loved one can result in
heartbreaking disappointment. We experience sorrow but also remorse about what
we may have failed to do. Remorse can lead to debilitating depression.
While grief is normal we must
eventually get over it. Life does not
stand still; it moves on. Sadness must give way to joy.
In dark days we look for light where we
can find it. The words of Thomas Carlyle are helpful: “The eternal stars shine
out as soon as it is dark enough.” If we will gaze up into the dark sky long
enough, we will soon see the stars shining. They are there, waiting to be seen,
but it is hard to see them through our tears.
Life is not all sunshine and sweetness.
There are sad and lonely days, but we have a choice; we can choose to get
beyond our misery. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow understood this reality:
Be
still, sad heart, and cease repining,
Behind
the clouds the sun is shining;
Thy
fate is the common fate of all;
Into
each life some rain must fall, --
Some
days must be dark and dreary.
Adversity is a great teacher. We learn
more from our failure than our success. Success often leads to pride and pride
causes us to stumble. When we fall, we need to ask what caused us to fall and
resolve to improve wherever possible. Only a fool continues to make the same
mistake repeatedly. We can learn not to do certain things again. Unless we do,
we will never be able to “get over it.”
Some people get ahead by stepping on
others on the way to the top. It hurts when someone gets the promotion you
thought you deserved. When that happens, you have a choice. You can stew over
it and complain bitterly. You can scream and cry that you were wronged. None of
that will help. It succeeds only in
making you miserable. The best response you can make? Just grab yourself by the
nap of the neck and get over it.
To get over a disappointment is to rise
above it. Washington Irving said it well: “Little minds are tamed and subdued
by misfortune; but great minds rise above it.” He was right. We can refuse to
be subdued by our defeats and become better people because of them.
Anger is self-destructive. Problems are
never solved by tearing our hair out. Baldness will not soothe our sorrows.
Though it is normal to become angry with those who hurt us, we can learn to
calm down and get over the hurt.
Forgiveness is better than anger. Hatred
is a chain that ties you to the person you hate. The only way to be free is to
forgive. Forgiveness breaks the chain and sets you free.
If you are nursing a sorrow, hurt,
disappointment or failure, admit that you need to get over it. If you get over
it, you can move on with your life. Life will not be perfect, but it will be
sweeter, and you will be able to share with your friends: “I’m over it!”
The next time life falls apart for you, do
yourself a big favor. Skip the misery of disappointment and regret. Just get
over it and move on! + + +