Just got the wind knocked out of me.

I know it's kinda my own fault for putting all my eggs in one basket so to speak. Waiting for so long for this guy to retire and hoping for
a shot at this particular job. But I had so many people encouraging me and telling me this was the job for me. And I actually covered this guy's job for 4 months while he was out on medical leave a couple years ago. By all accounts I was doing a better job than him. Vice principal told me to keep in touch, cause this guy was retiring soon.
And then to not even get to interview for it, kinda felt like a slap in the face.