How to Handle Disappointment When You're Exhausted (And You’re Running on No Sleep)

When everything ends at once — and you’re still standing.

Yesterday — January 8 — was hard.

Not dramatic.

Not earth-shattering.

Just… heavy.

The kind of day where everything feels like it’s ending at once.

We took down the Christmas tree and decorations.

The magic packed away.

There were tears. Real ones.

We threw out the first gingerbread house we ever made with our toddler — because ants are apparently bold enough to move into memories. Still, it hurt more than I expected.

I canceled a business trip we were supposed to leave for today.

My little one was better… but not travel-ready.

And underneath all of it, I was exhausted.

I’d been up most of the night with a sick toddler.

Four nights in a row.

When you’re trying to handle disappointment when exhausted, everything feels heavier than it normally would.

heavier than it normally would.

That kind of tired doesn’t just live in your body.

It lives in your emotions.

Everything sits closer to the surface when you haven’t slept.

The flight we would have been on ended up delayed four hours, landing at 1am. Miserable.

And yet — when I got a notification from JetBlue tracking a flight I’d already canceled… I cried anyway.

Because that flight wasn’t just a flight.

It was an escape.

From the cold.

From the long nights.

From that post-holiday feeling where the lights are down and you’re suddenly left with… real life again.

It was sun and warmth.

California.

Disney.

Seeing family.

Work meetings I was actually excited about.

Business momentum.

Deals that now have to wait until “later.”

It was the kind of reset my nervous system was quietly begging for.

And there’s one more piece I haven’t said out loud yet.

I lost a big deal.

Money we were counting on.

The kind where we won’t break — but things would have felt different.

Easier. Less tight.

2025 had been an expensive year.

And that account would have changed the shape of it.

Not in a flashy way — in a relief way.

When it fell through, it wasn’t panic.

It was that quiet recalculation that happens in your chest.

Okay… we’ll make it work.

We always do.

But still — the disappointment sat there.

Because some opportunities don’t just affect numbers.

They affect breathing room.

And losing that, right now, hurt.

There’s a specific sadness that comes from being responsible and still feeling the loss anyway.

And then there was my cousin — who’s been like a sister to me growing up.

She’d been visiting, and she came at exactly the right time.

She helped with my daughter.

She made the days lighter.

We stayed up late, laughing until our stomachs hurt.

Talking about nothing and everything.

It felt easy again.

It felt like fun.

It felt like me.

She was here while my husband was away, and that mattered.

She stepped in without being asked.

Held the rhythm of the house with me while I was running on fumes.

My husband was back — and I was truly happy about that.

There was relief in having my partner home again.

And still…

There is something about a sister who is a mom too.

She gets it without explanation.

The bone-deep tired.

The way love and overwhelm live side by side.

The mental load you don’t have the energy to narrate.

With her, I didn’t have to translate myself.

No fixing. No “look on the bright side.”

Just shared knowing.

So when she left, it wasn’t dramatic.

It was just quiet.

The house went from full to familiar.

Happy. Grateful. Content.

And still — carrying a sense of loss.

Why Disappointment Feels So Big Sometimes

Sometimes disappointment isn’t about the thing.

It’s about what the thing was going to give you.

Rest.

Relief.

A little lightness.

A break from holding it all.

And when that doesn’t happen — especially when you’re already depleted — it doesn’t just feel annoying.

It feels personal.

Maybe you know this version too.

Money you thought would come through… didn’t.

A deal didn’t close.

A relationship didn’t work out.

You lost something quietly and still had to function.

You didn’t win — and had to be happy for the winner while your own heart sank.

That kind of disappointment doesn’t announce itself.

It just settles in your chest and says,

Okay… now what?

How to Handle Disappointment When You're Exhausted Without Hardening

I once had a teacher who said:

“If you can learn to handle disappointment, you have the world by the balls.”

She wasn’t wrong.

But here’s the part people skip:

Handling disappointment doesn’t mean you stop feeling it.

It means you stop turning it into a story about your worth.

Start with the nervous system.

If you’re exhausted, name that first.

Sleep deprivation makes everything louder.

You’re not “too sensitive.”

You’re running on empty.

Let it be a real loss.

Not everything needs to be reframed.

And don’t decide your whole future from a hard day.

You can be grateful and sad.

You can love your life and miss what you wanted.

You can be okay… and still feel a loss.

That’s not inconsistency.

That’s being human.

If You’re Disappointed Right Now

Whatever you’re carrying — money, love, work, timing, energy — hear this:

You’re not weak for feeling it.

You’re not ungrateful.

You’re not failing.

You cared.

You hoped.

You needed something soft.

Some disappointments don’t mean everything is wrong.

They just mean something important didn’t go the way you hoped.

So if today feels quieter than you expected…

If the magic feels gone…

If you’re still standing, but tender —

You’re not alone.

Take the next soft step.

Not the perfect one.