One of the main ways that we create disappointments, unhappiness, and misjudgments is by holding on to limiting thoughts and feelings. Letting go, or releasing, is a natural ability that we're all born with, but which we get conditioned against using as we mature into adulthood. When we grow into adults we lose the childs perception of acceptance. Every time we were told "no," told to behave, to sit still and be quiet, to stop squirming, that "big boys don't cry" or "big girls don't get angry," and to grow up and be responsible, we learned to suppress our emotions. Look at the picture above.  Water is a representation of emotion in many cultures.  Water that doesn't move becomes stale.  How much energy would we use if we truly tried to hold the water in our hand? Our emotions do not make us who we are, but how we react to them does.  By sharing our experience we are no longer supressing our emotions.  We accept that there are situations beyond our control and can then we can start to deal with them.