Five Ways to Deal with Rejection

Rejection happens to everyone. It’s a part of life, but even though it’s common, it’s still tough and heartbreaking to deal with. Most often it’s the fear of it that holds people back, stopping them from achieving great things. As a senior approaching college, it is difficult to receive rejection letters, especially from top choices and number ones. Rejection happens for a reason, however, and puts you on the path to where you need to be. In sympathy and solidarity, we’ve come up with a few ways to deal with and move on from failure:

1. Accept What Happened: The only way to deal with failure is to accept it first. Encourage and let yourself realize what happened, and why it did. Think it over: was it something you had control over? Was it something you could change? If it is in your power to change it, jump at the opportunity. If you were rejected from your number one college, strive for better grades. If from a sports team, practice until you’ve reached the best of your ability. If you’re still in denial over what happened, there will no chance of it getting better.
2. Dust yourself off and try again: When you fail at something it doesn’t mean it’s over. Rejection shouldn’t be a sign to give up and look for something else, it should encourage you to try harder. Recognize failure and rejection as a second chance; an opportunity to change your perspective and try something from a different angle. Losing at something is a great way to learn and figure out new solutions to a problem. Don’t let failure break you, get up, try again, and show people what they’re missing.
3. Understand that you aren’t the only person to fail at things: Everyone fails at something in life, whether it’s losing a great job opportunity or getting rejected from a sports team. It’s not that it’s something inherently wrong with you and that you must be screwed up in some way, it’s just that rejection is a part of life. Everyone fails at something, not because there is something wrong with them, but that they are not ready at the time for what they have attempted to do. Even the people who seem to be perfect and excel at everything have flaws, we are only human. Don’t let yourself be intimidated but realize that everyone has failed at some point, they just picked themselves back up.
4. Let others help you through your rejection: When you are rejected from something you don’t have to deal with it alone. Use your support system to help you, whether it be friends, family, your psychiatrist, or even your doctor. Understand that you don’t have to deal with things alone, there are people who love you and will do anything to see you happy. It’s easy to be humiliated and embarrassed by rejection, but you’re loved ones won’t judge you, they will be there to help you through it.
5. Don’t let your rejection hold you back from new opportunities: After you fail at something, don’t let the fear of failing again stop you from doing great things. Being rejected from something can hurt and make you not want to go through the experience again. Even though you might be safe from feelings of loss disappointment, you won’t be able to experience triumph and success. Don’t let your feel of failure keep you from new opportunities.

Theres no way to sugarcoat it, rejection sucks. No one wants to be rejected from their number one college or cut from their sports team, but failure happens. Rejection is a part of life, it happens to everyone and no one gets away unscathed. Failure may seem permanent, but it’s not the end. Failure is a second chance, and is the perfect opportunity to get up and try again. As Babe Ruth said, “Don’t let the fear of striking out stop you from winning the game.”