5 Surprising Reasons You Should Be Thankful For Rejection

Rejection is the dismissing or refusing of a proposal, an idea, a suggestion or the “please leave a message after the beep.” The word rejection is not a pleasant one in any way, shape, or form. No matter who you are, what you are trying to accomplish or how successful you are, we all face rejection. We all feel the gut clinching pain of rejection. But, there are five reasons why you should be thankful for rejection.

1. There will always be something better.

Whether it is a better relationship, a better business opportunity, or a better coffee order when your barista tells you they are out of your favorite, go-to daily brew. You are forced into opportunity when you are rejected on your initial idea. That dress that wasn’t your size will lead you to a more beautiful, flattering and stunning find.

2. Pushes you to think outside the box.

Maybe you had always thought you would be a doctor, but you just could not pass the MCAT to save your life. This is when you re-evaluate and think outside the box, what could you still be good at in that or related to that field that you would enjoy doing and can excel at? This may lead you into Pharmacy school, physical therapy, etc. It is rejection that helps us re-evaluate and think outside the box we thought we had our perfectly planned life plan in.

3. You learn.

Whether you get rejected during a book pitch to a literary agent or don’t win a writing competition you entered. These situations allow you see what you may have done wrong, or could improve on. Maybe you bombed a job interview where you felt the need to talk about how you were fired from your previous job for punching a hole through the wall during a heated conversation. It’s rejection that helps us see opportunities that we can improve on.

4. Makes you stronger.

After 300 “no thank you” queries, or 500 job applications with no sign of life you learn that the important things in life do not depend on landing that job you are underqualified for or getting your book published by a major publishing firm. You have your family, your friends, opportunity and drive. Anyone who learns how to be resilient in these types of situations can “roll with the punches” when other hard things may come their way. Resiliency is a trait that cannot be bought, learned or taught. It is something you have to grow from within and perfect through rejection, growth and opportunity.

5. Molds who you are.

When you finally achieve your “life goals” and have made it to where you want to be in life (I know you will since you are resilient and will not let rejection hold you back from at least trying) others are going to look up to you and ask you how you got to where you are. You can tell them your story of trivial effort, rejection and resilience. You are valuing people over profit when you see others that just need that chance that you were looking for when you first started.

Rejection sucks, but you should be thankful for the opportunities, resilience, and lessons it nicely laid in your lap. You can overcome anything and rejection is one of the easiest things on the list.