I felt disappointed! This is a common statement we hear people say when they experience the feeling of disappointment. It hurts more when it's coming from someone you trust so much or love, or have invested your time, emotions, energy, and resources into building a common goal together, and at the end, have your hope turned upside down. I have my own fair share of this similar experience, but I will choose to tell you about a situation where I disappointed my brother for a good purpose, and it turned out well for him instead. Maybe you are curious to know what I did intentionally?
The first statement I used in the first paragraph of this post was exactly what my immediate elder brother said to me when he called to confront me over information I disclosed to my other siblings, which he said I shouldn't let them know what's happening to him. I was even surprised he said that to me because after he confided in me about the disaster he has been going through, I told him that I can't keep such information secret because it's too sensitive to his life and urgent action needs to be taken for his own good, and also, I don't have enough wisdom to really assist him properly considering the depth of the issue. However, he warned me not to try telling our siblings that he wouldn't want any of them to call him about it.
After one week, hearing how his health was getting bad as a result of emotional trauma he had been suffering over the issue, he confided in me, I was forced to create a separate family WhatsApp group and carefully disclosed the detailed information to my siblings. In fact, they blamed me for not telling them on time and would have held me responsible if anything bad happened to him. Like, why should I know what our blood is going through and keep mute? My big brother slashed me!
My twin brother and my big brother called him immediately over the issue, expressed themselves to him, and gave him ideas on how to go about the issue. At first, he felt so bad and kind of ashamed that everyone at home now knows what is happening. The way he spoke to me over the phone was really unpleasant but I choose to relate to his feelings. He gave me no room to explain why I disclosed the information but kept shouting that he was disappointed in me and wouldn't tell me anything concerning his life anymore. Before I could say a word, he hung up on me.
However, within a few days, he called me back to apologize for his actions towards me and gave me an update on how our eldest brother assisted him greatly over the issue and how there is lots of progress already. He now feels a bit relieved and could even sleep at night.In my words, I told him, when friends and colleagues leave you, your family will always stand by you till the end of your predicament, so hiding your challenges from your family should be a no-no.
Overall, it's a good disappointment from me to him, seeing how things are unfolding for the better. His mental health also seems to improve after my siblings came into the matter, providing emotional support and encouragement.
This post is in response to the SciFi weekly prompt