How to Deal with Rejection in a Healthy Way?

Rejection hurts… It literally hurts badly. All of us have experienced the pain of rejection at one point or another. It may come in various forms – you may get rejected in an interview for a job, rejected by loved one when you propose, from a sports team, or groups of friends. Whichever kind of rejection you’re facing, the fact of the matter is; that resulting emotions are often painful.  Before we move forward, let us first understand the its meaning or definition.

What is rejection?

The word Rejection comes from the Latin word rēicere, which means “to throw back”. It can be defined as the act of pushing someone or something away. It is basically an act of refusing to accept, use, or believe someone or something. The act of rejectiing is done based on judgment of worthiness or value. But, what if that “someone or something” is YOU?

Remember when you got rejected last time? How difficult was it to deal with that? Handling Rejection becomes tricky and it becomes a direct threat to an individual’s sense of belonging, self-esteem or self-worth. This also can have serious consequences on the mental health. It does not matter how big or small, all type of rejection affects us.

Rejection stops some people from trying again. People who become too afraid of it might hold back from going after their goals. Rejection hurts. But it’s impractical to avoid it altogether. The way you choose to respond to rejection, however, could determine the entire course of your future. The better way is to learn how to deal with rejection. Rejection is a hard emotion to deal with. In this article, I will be sharing with you the tips on how to handle it.

Self-Awareness

Acknowledge your emotions and be mentally strong. Do not ignore, suppress or deny the emotional pain created by rejection. Be self aware and notice when you feel sad, disappointed, or discouraged due to the rejection. Accept the rejection as a part of life and look in to it in totality. When you accept these uncomfortable emotions; consecutively you will find the way of coping with these in a healthy manner. Avoidance and ignorance will make the situation worse. Reject the rejection and move on, the new opportunities are waiting for you.

Belief

Develop a strong belief that everything happens for good. The rejection you have faced has some strong connection with future events. Steve Jobs shared in one of his commencement speech – “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.” If you look at your life, you will find this belief is true for everyone. I personally have found that the rejection for which I felt bitter, in due course of time, down the lane after five years that rejection was good for me. Make rejection a positive experience by shifting your thinking away from what you lost out on.

Learn from Rejection

Rejection is not an end of the world. Learn from the it and use those as stepping stones for success. Work hard on the improvements required, so that you do not need to see similar rejections in future. Turn the emotional pain into an opportunity for self-growth. What you learn from rejection, ends up ultimately making you the best version of yourself, and in the best possible position. When you will look at the rejections with such a positive attitude, with each rejection you will grow stronger and become better.

“A rejection is nothing more than a necessary step in the pursuit of success.” ~ Bo Bennett

Gratitude

Gratitude is something, which can do wonders in your life. Practice gratitude and be thankful to God for what you have in life. Being grateful for what you have and not regretting what you don’t have or what you lose brings you from the state of lacking to the abundance.

You can overcome rejection through gratitude. A mindful thought “I am grateful for this rejection”; when you face rejection will help you to handle it. I know it’s not an easy to sell this idea to you, but believe me it works. Should not you be grateful to rejection as it makes you stronger, gives learning for future success, forces you to stretch your abilities and helps you to explore new opportunities?

Positive Self-Talk

So often when you experience rejection you ask yourself, “Why me? Maybe I am just not good enough? Was it something I did? Don’t I deserve that? Never let your inner critique pull you further downhill. Instead to sinking in the whirlpool of these negative thoughts; use Positive self-talk and affirmation to handle it in a healthy way. Speak to yourself or try writing down some things that are positive about yourself. come up with a list of some of your strengths, good things and values, and start your morning off each day by reading them out loud to yourself. Keep reminding yourself about a million other better things you can do. Clear the skies of self-doubt and negativity and focus on your positive aspects.

Spend Quality Time

One of the worst thing to do when you feel rejected in relationships is isolate yourself. I know you are down and don’t feel like seeing anyone. But you must get out spend quality time with your friends and family, and make sure that you are still feeling truly connected with other people around you.

Life is more than the just one rejection from that one person or thing. There are plenty of other people who value you and are on your side. Talking to your family or hanging out with your friends will help you get some load off your mind and will help you in de-cluttering your brain.

Consider checking RSD (Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria)

If nothing works and you feel too much of emotional pain, then the best option available is seeking counselling or mental health practitioners help. There is mental health condition called RSD (Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria), which requires professional help. RSD is an overwhelming emotional sensation that a person may experience in response to an actual or perceived rejection or criticism. Taking professional help is nothing to be ashamed of as it will help you heal mentally. This will make you less vulnerable and will make the whole process easier for you.

Over to you now

Over to you now. That’s all from my side in this article. It’s time to share your experiences and views on rejection. Have you faced it in career, relationships, social gatherings, family or friends? How do you handle such rejections? Please share your tips in the comments section below with Invajy community, those are much appreciated.

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