Rejection

“And I won’t stop until you believe it, cause baby you’re worth it,” Not a Bad Thing, Justin Timberlake

Those that are close to me, know that I am pretty much scared of everything. I am not kidding, everything freaks me out. Terrified all animals are going to attack me. Scared of the dark. Scared of awkward situations. Freaked out by mustard and the smell of buffalo sauce. Well, you get the point. I am a big old wimp. I just hide it well sometimes. But of all my fears, rational and irrational (like one night my closest door falling on me while I sleep), there is one thing that scares me more than anything or anyone — rejection. I admit that I have a very crippling fear of rejection in everything I do that it almost will paralyze me.

I have spent a great deal of time working on overcoming this fear. I have made progress. I have been knocked back a few times this past year, but thanks to many long phone dates and BFF nights, I have taken more risks and succeed. I still fail, but it isn’t because the fear of rejection stopped me, sometimes people just fail. So amongst all the steps to getting over this fear, why is it that one simple action can send you back to the beginning? Why does one thing or one person have so much power?

Honestly, I don’t know the answer to this question. But what I do know is how I think Laura Bush would handle it. When someone or something rejects you, how do you handle it like Laura Bush? That’s simple — with class. You get rejected in your professional life, be classy. Hold your head up high, your time will come. Your family rejects you — remember no one says family must be blood, find new people. You get rejected by a significant other — be the bigger person, you deserve better. See how easy it is to be Laura Bush?

Easier said than done, huh? Oh so true, sounds good though. Unfortunately, there is no easy way to handle rejection, some just handle it better than others. You can scream and yell, or you can cry, whatever works for you. I personally handle it poorly. When I start to shut down or pull away from rejection, I will remember that Laura Bush would not be impressed. She would want me to remain strong, and from now on, I plan to do just that.

Tonight I had a much different idea of how this blog entry was going to go. I was going to tell stories of rejection in my life, be all moody, but then I checked social media. When I logged on I noticed I had a new notification. I clicked to see what I had been tagged in and up popped a really sweet friendship quote. It reminded me that the people that matter to me will never reject me. Those I can always count on will never reject me.

Does it get any more Laura Bush than knowing you are loved by many? This blog is proof of what love and respect for others can do for you and the world. So even with the bad luck I have and knowing rejection is inevitable, I will remember what Laura Bush would do and go from there. Wish me luck!