Rejection or Redirection?
No.
We all hate this word. We fear it. Why? Because we associate this word with rejection. Rejection of our unsatisfactory skills or talents. Rejection of us. Our feelings are hurt. Our self-esteem can take a hit. Either way, rejection stings!
But we face rejection so often, whether it is from family, friends, social engagements, schools, universities, co-workers, or a new company. Rejection is part of life. We’ve all heard the famous stories of how Steve Jobs, Walt Disney and Oprah Winfrey were fired from their jobs for not being good enough or how The Beatles were initially rejected by Decca Studios. So rejection can’t always be a bad thing, right?
Rejection has a way of teaching us, redirecting us, and ultimately making our lives better! So, what if we stopped seeing rejection as evidence of our inadequacy? What if we stopped seeing rejection as a lost opportunity? What if rejection is not a lost opportunity but rather a favorable circumstance - a chance to conserve energy and resources for something more aligned, more fertile, more fruitful? Rejection unleashes the imagination to figure out what’s the reason for this roadblock. It triggers human’s stimulus to think about more options — these options show us a different perspective to understand our boundaries and how much we are ready for another challenge.
“Every time I thought I was being rejected from something good, I was actually being re-directed to something better.” Steve Maraboli
I have learnt to look at rejection differently these past couple of years. Actually, many of my greatest blessings have come out of what initially appeared as rejection. Speaking to many of my friends, I realised that all of us go through all types of rejections. But we don’t really talk about it. We see the success stories but not the hustle filled with a stream of rejections preceding the celebrated success. This got my friend Nikita and I thinking. Why do we not share our rejection/redirection stories more? It would make the whole experience less isolating, less personal and much more positive, as we’re all in this together (to quote high school musical)! So, we are cooking up something cool on this front, watch this space for some exciting news soon!!!!
Rejection only happens when you’re putting yourself out there. It does not happen to those who are not taking chances, out of fear of rejection. Fear of rejection will stunt your curiosity, creativity and courage. So let’s all stop taking rejection personally and put a positive spin on it: it is simply redirection to something much better! And remember (reminder to everyone, including myself) that if you’re being rejected it means you’re being BRAVE. We’ve got this!