No matter how many times you have been rejected before, every new rejection still stings.
I work in sales — I get rejected on a daily basis. A standard commercial staff has a conversion rate of 15-20%. That means they get rejected at least 80% of the time.
Rejections have different forms. Some are courteous and polite to explain their rejection in the euphemism of “mismatch”. But some are also vicious and personal in that they point to you as the reason for their rejection.
Before I started working, I applied for many universities for further studies and for jobs I find interesting. I get rejected a lot — the side effect of a person who takes pride in striving and trying.
But no matter how many times you have been rejected, a new rejection always stings. And that’s not a bad thing.
A rejection that stings is a rejection that still has its utility. It reminds you that you have to work harder. It teaches you that life does not always work fairly and luck plays a part.
But most of all, rejection liberates you. It pushes you to the abyss you were always afraid of falling. And when you reach the lowest point, you realise that it wasn’t that bad. Now you have no more anxiety, you have no more exaggerated anticipation or negative certainty. You are in a reality. And no matter how bad the situation is, reality is always less scary than your imagination.
Rejection still stings — and that’s the best part.
