You've Been Rejected. Now What?

I have been told "no" (by both words and actions) more than I can count. From business partnerships, friendships and romantic relationships, I am very familiar with the feeling that usually tags along with not being good enough in the eyes of another person.

For many of us, rejection can sting to the bottom of our core. We end up questioning ourselves and our worth and in turn, we build a wall of armor around our hearts that may lessen the chance of opening the doors of new opportunities.

My father abandoned my family when I was four years old. Only a couple weeks before, I had been run over by a lawn mower. The trauma of the accident combined with my father's disappearance caused a massive heap of problems with how I view and react to rejection. During my time spent in the Amazon jungle, my father's leaving became the highlight of my healing process.

In terms of healing something in our lives, I speak about it in percentages. I spent three months working with Ayahuasca and other master plants as they helped me to understand my subconscious mind and behavioral patterns, especially when it comes to rejection and abandonment. But even after I left the jungle I knew I was only a very small percentage healed from this issue. However, I didn't know what kind of lessons life would throw my way so I could learn how to properly deal with these emotions.

I'm not going to lie, it hurt...bad. Life threw me into the lion's den.

To be short, I put myself in rather uncomfortable situation where I was forced to examine my thought patterns in the time of rejection. Quite literally, there was no place to run and I was trapped in this situation for a few miserable, uncomfortable days.

On the final day I was stuck in what I thought was a big disaster, I realized something that I had missed for nearly 22 years. I had an epiphany that changed my entire outlook on rejection.

Had this opportunity opened it's doors to me, I'd be absolutely fucking miserable. I'm the kind of person that needs the freedom to taste the pleasures that life has to offer. I cannot be tied down to a specific location or I'll go crazy. And had that opportunity opened for me, my growth as an individual would have become completely stagnant.

I came out of that situation with so much gratitude. I realized that rejection is really only God's protection. I never believed this until now, but there is something better in store for us in the future, as long as we open our hearts up to it.

Getting over the fear of rejection is one of the most freeing feelings I have ever felt. And for anyone who fears rejection and the unwanted feelings that follow it, I urge you to try to look at rejection in a new light.