Hi Insom, sorry I didn't get to this sooner, but I think the community responses are good.

Being sad, angry, disappointed, and frustrated are all part of life -- I subscribe to the theory that emotions evolved, along with the rest of evolution, to protect us. We learn not to touch the stove by burning our fingers. We learn not to fall in love with predators by getting burned. It's important to learn from our negative feelings.

I've been talking and thinking a lot about unrealistic expectations (in regards to new relationships, mostly)

If I know someone is unreliable, but I let that person get my hopes up again and again, then I am not learning from my disappointment.

Eventually we learn to protect our heart (as I've said before).

It's much more fun to wildly follow our passions and hope that finally maybe this time, maybe this time we'll win.

Sometimes it will work out too. We lose out on those wild coincidences when we learn to protect our heart. On the other hand, protecting our heart also opens up endless possibilities for wiser decisions.

How can we avoid contributing to our own sadness? Look at those sadnesses and notice the times when you jumped in, head first, knowing full well that you were in the shallow end. Reflect on those times and learn from them.

That's how we can avoid contributing to our own sadness.