Rejection: Part I

I had three big rejections in a row a few days ago. I've written previously about how important getting used to rejection is, but sometimes when they come in vicious waves, there's not much else to do but go grocery shopping alone, but a large bag of flamin' hot muchies, and watch Dance Moms.

The worst has passed, but I did quite a bit of soul searching over the span of three days. I dug deep into what rejection truly is and how to cope thanks to many talks with friends, blogs, spirituality articles, and even a lecture by Carl Sagan.  I will try to synthesize what I learned from my "study" in pieces here.

One cool thing is it's a really great self-exploration exercise to figure out what rejections have stung the most for you, and if there are any you actually still hold onto. I've learned a lot about even close friends by asking about what their memorable rejections have been. Rejections that wouldn't bug me, really hurt others and vice versa. For me, I've discovered a huge rejection, when warranted, dissipates in the breeze for me. On the other hand when someone rejects me from something I know I can do, I it's very hard for me be chill about it. EVEN when in hindsight the rejection worked out for my benefit or something, I am itched by someone misjudging my ability. I'm glad I figured out my rejection pattern because I think it will help me deal with it in the future. I am not one hundred percent sure about how to say, "C'est la vie," when I feel I have been incorrectly assessed. Yet. But now I know I need to know.