“Disappointment”: “The failure or defeat of success.” (Webster’s Dictionary)
The story so far…
Two men, saddened by the sudden death of a close friend, have left the city where they live and are walking together along a country road. Their destination is a small, obscure village, an ideal place to “get away” from things for a while.
Along the way, a stranger joins them. He sees that they are sad, and asks them why. They tell him that their friend’s death was the final blow to the expectations they had built around him.
What the two do not know is that the Stranger is their friend—not only alive but actually more alive than ever. Blinded by grief and loss, and deeply disappointed, they do not recognise him.
Now read on…
Failure and Defeat suddenly realised that the Stranger had asked them a question.
“Are you heading for Obscurity?”
“Yes,” answered Defeat. Failure merely nodded. Neither wanted to talk to the Stranger; their minds were elsewhere.
“May I join you? I’m curious about your conversation—you seem so sad.”
“Curious?” Failure glanced at the Stranger bleakly. “You mean you haven’t heard about what took place in Disappointment three days ago?”
“Took place,” echoed the Stranger, “What took place?”
“What took place?” Failure was amazed. “Where have you—“
“How Success suddenly ended in Disappointment,” interrupted Defeat, with anguish in his voice. “Success meant everything to us: more happiness than we had ever known; a feeling that things were about to change for the better. And that we, and many others, were going to be at the forefront of it all.”
Failure no longer had to peer around Defeat: he had taken up a position on the other side of the Stranger, who now walked between them.
“Success was the voice of the future—or so we thought,” Defeat continued.
“He was more than the voice of the future—he had the power to change the present…” Failure’s voice softened and trailed off, as he remembered. “Everyone loved Success in the beginning.”
“But in the end, what did they do? They killed Success—that’s what they did!” Bitterness tinged Defeat’s voice.
The Stranger was silent. The sun was still high overhead, and he knew that Failure and Defeat still had a lot more to say.
“We depended so much on Success,” said Defeat, after a long silence. The soft scuff of the trio’s sandals on the rough surface of the road had been the only sound. “And the reason why was because The Promise said that Success would come to those who waited. Well, Success came all right, but we all know what happened to Success!”
It was Failure’s turn. Perplexed, his voice filled with frustration, he said, “That’s what makes it worse! How could Success start out so right and end up so wrong?”
Defeat spoke quietly to the Stranger. “It was often said—I heard it many times—that Success would be here forever. But how long is forever?”
“Three days is forever,” said Failure, bleakly.
“Some say Success has been seen in Disappointment,” said Defeat, slowly, in a tone that made it clear that he wasn’t one of them.
“They say more than that,” Failure cut in. “They claim that Success is back, in a new way.”
“A new way?” queried Defeat. “We were there! We saw it all. I’m telling you—it’s over! Success came, and the future looked great. But Success died three days ago, and as far as a lot of people are concerned, that was the end. Come on—let’s hurry! At this rate, we’ll never get to Obscurity by sunset.”
But as it turned out, they didn’t hurry. They stopped, in fact, for the Stranger stood looking at them with undisguised irritation.
“You idiots! Can’t you get it into your heads that The Promise is unbreakable? Can’t you see that Disappointment was the best place for Success to triumph?”
After that, they walked on, but at the Stranger’s pace, Failure and Defeat falling in with his words, as well as his steps. The time went unnoticed, other traffic unseen. On and on the three walked, Failure and Defeat on either side of the Stranger, who talked.
He reminded them that down through the years The Promise of Success had been given to many people, in many places. In fact, those they respected most of all had received it, and had passed it on. As the Stranger talked, Failure and Defeat began to realise how very limited their understanding of Success had been.
They and many others had seen Success from a selfish standpoint—what Success could do for them. They now began to see that Success had to end in Disappointment to deal with that. Well, they quietly conceded, the fact that they were headed for Obscurity was proof that it had.
The words of the Stranger not only enabled them to re-examine the past: it also enabled them to re-define the future. When they saw that The Promise had always stated—why they hadn’t seen it, they couldn’t say—that it was necessary for Success to end in Disappointment, their sadness turned into hope.
“But will we see Success again?” Failure asked.
“Yes, but as Unlimited Success,” assured the Stranger.
“What do you mean: ‘Unlimited Success’?” they asked in unison.
Simply that while you and others were happy being around Success, you were dependents—children, really. Success has now triumphed over Disappointment and has become Unlimited Success. Soon, you will experience Unlimited Success in your own lives.”
The afternoon shadows had lengthened considerably by the time the Stranger had explained to Failure and Defeat what the event of three days ago meant, and now Obscurity was in sight.
“Well, goodbye for now,” said the Stranger.
“Goodbye? You can’t go now! Stay with us overnight! You’ve hardly begun to explain things, and we’ve hardly begun to understand!”
Their insistence seemed to please the Stranger, who allowed them to persuade him to stay overnight. But when the evening meal began, he took bread and blessed it, and they recognised him in a flash!
“Success!” they gasped.
But in the same moment he was gone—vanished—leaving them looking at the bread they held in their hands. Success was back! Back, yes, but in a new and even more exciting way, for never before had Success disappeared before their very eyes!
Had it all been a dream? No, it was real enough. They had walked from Disappointment to Obscurity little knowing that Success had walked with them—between them—almost all the way.
What they now had to do was obvious: return to Disappointment. But since Success had triumphed over Disappointment, from now on they would call it Reappointment. It seemed appropriate, now that they saw past events in a different light. In any event, there was no point in remaining in Obscurity any longer.
The two retraced their steps, now mindful that they were they walking on the road from Obscurity, rather than the road to it, and that each step they took was now in the right direction. The sadness that had led them away had been replaced by a joy that was hurrying them back. And as they retraced their steps, they retraced their previous thoughts and actions.
Reappointment came into sight, and on entering it they sought and found their friends. Hardly had they greeted them when they were informed that Success—Unlimited Success—had also been seen by others.
Suddenly, the room changed and there stood Unlimited Success!
This time, however, he stayed long enough to explain many things; long enough to reassure them that he was real; long enough to eat with them some fish and honey. They were to remain in Reappointment, he told them, until yet another part of The Promise came to pass
After the meal Unlimited Success led them out to a mountain, where he blessed them and disappeared. But they knew that one day he would return just as quickly.