Embrace the redirection in rejection

“Rejection is protection for something greater that is to come”

It can be easy to get caught up in rejection, all of the ‘no thank yous’, all of the closed doors that you thought would’ve been open. But in actual fact, all of the rejection we experience in life is simply re-direction. Failing or being rejected from something means you tried, and that to me is something to be proud of – some people don’t try at all because of the fear of it not working and end up missing out on so much in life! I thought I would share some examples of my own rejection/failures to make my point. 

Failure #1

I applied to get in to study at a certain University and was rejected. It was actually to study Geology so I could be a volcanologist, which is extremely random but I had my heart set on this certain place. I went to tech to resit two of my A-Levels and to study a new one to have a better chance of getting in second time round. Application time came around and to my surprise I was rejected, again. 

I then graduated from a different University, doing a different course and applied for a job in my initial sought after University on NINE separate occasions and was rejected on all nine applications. I was actually laughing going through my old journals recently, I listed out every single job I applied for after university – it was pages upon pages of companies/jobs with unsuccessful written beside it and a note at the bottom of each page saying – we’ll try again tomorrow, don’t quit Cat! I’ve clearly always been the cringy person I am today lol. 

But fast forward to today, I’m working in a job I love, for a company I love, on a collaboration project with the initial sought after University – redirected to an even better outcome than I had in my mind all those years ago.

If I hadn’t of been rejected, I would probably be sitting on top of a volcano right now, hating my job and not being able to use creativity in my professional life, something that is an absolute must for me for motivation and purpose (which will be another blog topic). 

I didn’t know back then that I wanted to get in to what I do now, so all of the rejection was the universe pushing me towards what I was meant to do and where I was meant to be. 

Failure #2 

About 4 years ago I was in the airport about to fly to Spain and was looking at books to buy. I seen the self-help section and I literally laughed and said into myself, “If there’s one thing I don’t need, it’s a self help book”. The universe then said, oh is that right Cat? Here’s a slice of unexpected heartbreak for you – now get your bookshelf filled ‘cause you’re gonna need it! 

So that was failure number two, a failed relationship that I did find extremely hard at the time, but it catapulted me into a self discovery journey and to a level of emotional maturity that I didn’t even know could exist in me. If that relationship hadn’t of ended, I wouldn’t have been pushed towards reading about self help, personal development and why humans act the way they do. The knowledge, confidence and courage I gained from reading opened so many amazing doors for me and I’ve said yes to so many things ‘old me’ would have said no to. Heartbreak is hard, but some of the best lessons in life are the hardest ones to learn and this was one of the hardest, yet most rewarding ones for me. 

That’s two failure examples from my life that turned out to be two amazing life experiences. 

As humans we really fear rejection, mainly because it hurts our ego, but if we keep our ego at bay and remember rejection is a part of life – it becomes a little less scary.

Here’s an exercise for you, think about or write down 2 failures in your life and beside them write the great things it has taught you or led you too, notice how failure has actually brought you to ‘fail forward’. 

So that failed talking stage or knock back from asking someone out on a date? They’re doing you a favour by not wasting your time and pushing you towards finding the right person for you. That job you didn’t get? A new door has been opened to get you one step closer to your dream job. 

Embrace the redirection in the rejection.