As athletes, business people and (simply put) humans, we have all experienced rejection at one point or another. The high-school coach who said we were not fast, tall or strong enough, the job interview that never called back or the boyfriend/girlfriend who said “it’s not you, it’s me”. We have all faced the the words that inadvertently said “you are not enough”. We move forward thinking we have moved past the rejection, but it still rests in the back of our minds, making it even more destructive that it needs to be: “what if they were right?”. The cycle begins and the next thought is, “Uh, what do they know?” And lastly, we become frustrated with ourselves because it still bothers us. It’s crazy! Why should we care? Why can’t we just let it go?!
Sometimes in the process of moving on, we do not allow ourselves to truly feel things for what they are. Yes, you got rejected and it sucks! Feel the pain, learn from it and then move on. Why did you get rejected? Did you do your absolute best? Where you in the best state of mind possible? Was that truly what you wanted to do? Were you settling for second best? By allowing ourselves to go thru the motions that something really hurt us, we can learn so much more. Nobody likes rejection, but if it shows up like the weird uncle we may have, welcome it with open arms. After all it’s here to stay, whether you like it or not. Take advantage of this opportunity to truly get to know the behind the scenes. Learn the what, why and how it happened. Do not allow your ego to shove things under the carpet, only to move on blindly to the next trial. Failure is just an indicator that we are moving our lives in the wrong direction and it’s time to try something different. Perhaps a different approach, better timing or a different attitude.
