According to the Association for Psychological Science, our quest for acceptance stems from our need for survival. In ancient times, people relied on their tribe to help guard against threats. Tribes also offered a sense of pride—a feeling of belonging to something bigger than ourselves; today we still feel comfort when people accept us.
According to the other person, something was missing. Maybe it was certain qualifications or specific vibes they wanted to feel. Again, this doesn’t speak to your character or abilities; instead, it displays the standards that they are using to make a decision.
So, how is that a favor? It increases your chances for finding a situation that is better in line with your own views and values. In this way, you work with someone who sees your potential and appreciates all that you do have to offer. KIRSTEN NUNEZ
Everybody gets tunnel vision once in a while. We focus on one goal, one person, or one dream to the exclusion of all else. Rejection can give us a time to pause and take another look at our objectives and how we’re trying to meet them. In this case, the idea is to look around with new eyes and consider, not only new ways of getting to the same goal, but how we view our goals and dreams.
There’s an old saying: The strongest fish is the one that swims upstream. Rejection can often feel like it brings you to a complete halt, but in reality it gives you something to push against. People do not grow stronger when everything is working for them, but when they are forced to cope with the unexpected or the undesirable. In this way, rejection helps us by showing us just how strong, resourceful, and capable we really are when the chips are down. J.S. Wayne
The experience of being rejected allows you to make time to grieve. Recent studies show that human tears contain cortisol, the hormone of stress, meaning that once we cry we release stress from our system and we are able to go back to normal. Grieving for dreams and opportunities lost is not a sign of weakness. In fact, it’s a sign of strength. The human brain needs the break of grieving in order to process the troubling information and store it away properly; otherwise, it gets stuck in the limbic system and becomes a traumatic experience, hindering further progress.
Any rejection is an opportunity to step back and ask ourselves “what did go wrong?” This is a critical question, as it allows us to assess the situation and figure out what went wrong. Even if you wanted this relationship to work and did your best, for example, it failed, because the other person was not committed. Maybe you even saw the signs in the beginning, but because you wanted something different, you wanted so much this relationship to work, you ignored the signs hoping they would disappear and reality would fit your expectations. Liza Varvogli
RRIt shows who we can count on. And last but not the least, rejections can let us know who true allies are are. In the gloomy days of being rejected there would be people who will help us stand again or even people who will give us other opportunities. Be thankful for them.-- ERIN FALCONER
