At Least Rejection Doesn’t Eat All The Fruit Snacks:
When I was growing up, there were always other children who weren’t my first choice to hang out with. If I had a choice of who to sit next to or share my fruit snacks with, these individuals weren’t even on the list. Fast forward to adulthood, and my favorite line, “Who all gonna be there?” is still as relevant today as it was back then. Nowadays, I have more freedom in choosing my social circles, but back then, my mom would sometimes decide for me. I had to invite everyone in my class to my parties, even though I only liked three and a half people. As I got older, my mom would suggest who I should spend time with, indicating I was maturing and capable of making my own decisions. And now, she straight up says who she likes or doesn’t like in my circle. Goodness, times are different now.
On the topic of friendship, however, there’s a buddy that we could be missing out on—Rejection. Yes, we should buddy up next to rejection and let them into the clique, posse, gang, or whatever. Rejection doesn’t have to be our sworn enemy of the playground.
At Least Rejection Brought Something:
The worst thing about inviting someone you don’t want to be there is when they don’t even show up with anything. It's not that Rejection brings anything worthwhile, but at least it doesn’t show up empty-handed! It’s like that one person who brings budget Aldi wine to a party (this person is me, and I hope you’re not judging me for bringing these highly-rated bottles of booze!). Rejection comes accompanied by its posse of negative emotions, but Rejection also tags along with some gifts, such as Feedback. If we hang out with Rejection just a little bit longer, we may start to realize the other gifts homegirl brings alongside her. We might begin to see her a little better than we have in the past.
At Least Rejection Looks Good:
Whenever I experience Rejection, I have a picture of a woman Mime. And, yes, Rejection may be a male for you or gender-non-conforming in your wild mind. It doesn’t matter. What is important is that we bring to mind the visual representation of Rejection. This visual representation, or 'Rejection Mime, 'serves as a tool for recognizing and managing rejection in a more lighthearted and manageable way. In coaching, we refer to this as a structure. However, personifying Rejection has some benefits. When we visualize rejection, our saboteurs, and negative emotions, we can recognize when they are present with a bit more ease.
As far as performance quality goes for my Mime, she’s pretty awful. She makes a lot of noise no matter what’s going on. She constantly breaks character to laugh instead of staying silent. When the flurry of emotions hits me, she juggles them in the air and lets them fall. My Mime loves balloons as well. She’ll hold that red balloon like a source of hope and beacon of light and let that thing slip right out of her hand. The tightrope walk? Oh, yup, she does that one, too. She always falls off right when the rejection lands, just like Lady Gaga during that Super Bowl performance. You know what I’m talking about. Her favorite act is, hands-down, the Invisible Wall Routine. She will build and erect that wall whenever it feels like I’m outside of an environment or situation. Again, she’s not the best at it, so there’s always a whole section missing. Homegirl is a hot mess. However, she’s always on time when there’s a possibility of rejection.
At Least Rejection is Funny:
Humor can serve as a secret sauce for resilience and navigating rejection experiences. As someone who likes to process some things through humor, personifying something like Rejection makes navigating gracefully and efficiently easier. In addition, I can easily recognize when Rejection is occurring because my Rejection Mime makes her presence known.
Personifying and visualizing an entity could be too much for you and may not resonate. Some other parts of the book may not be for you, too! However, for those that it’s clicking with and want to make those future rejection journeys a bit more fun, funny, and manageable, I encourage you to do some work around considering if Rejection were a person, what would they look like present in your life? Let your imagination run wild and free, and think of some scenarios in which Rejection may show up, or if it already has, think about what you would have liked them to do.
Rejection is My Homegirl Takeaways:
Rejection is Inevitable: Like an uninvited guest, rejection will appear at the party and in life. But remember, we get to choose how we welcome it. This inevitability can prepare us and reduce the anxiety when rejection does show up.
Humor is Available: We don’t have to take Rejection too seriously. Especially if we have a character to help us navigate, we can lighten the burden of rejection and make the journey more enjoyable.
Rejection isn’t all bad: Rejection doesn’t show up empty-handed. There’s feedback and lessons in the Rejection experiences.
Rejection is My Homegirl Practical Steps:
Build Your Rejection Character:
Visualize the details of the entity or character that resonates with you as Rejection.
Consider some potential situations or past Rejection experiences, and imagine what they would have been doing in those moments.
Create a reminder or trigger to help bring this character to mind when the next rejection experience occurs.
Ready to embrace Rejection and live life "Full Out"? Join me at Full Out Coaching, where we transform rejections into resilience with humor and fun in the process.
Schedule your complimentary discovery call today, and let’s unlock your full potential together!
Rejection is my Homegirl
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Rejection isn’t just a guest at life’s party—it’s the one you didn’t invite but always shows up anyway. But here’s the kicker: Rejection doesn’t come empty-handed.
In my latest blog, I explore how rethinking Rejection as a quirky, awkward homegirl (mine’s a clumsy mime, FYI) can help us navigate her arrival with humor, grace, and resilience:
Personify Rejection to make her easier to spot and manage.
Use humor to lighten the sting and take back control.
Look for the gifts Rejection brings—like feedback and growth.
If Rejection were a person, what would they look like in your life? Let’s laugh, share, and learn together in the comments!
Ready to stop dreading Rejection and start embracing her gifts? Let’s work together through coaching or workshops to turn “no” into your next big breakthrough.
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