Handling rejection - Tips for teens
No matter what age you are, somewhere (and mostly on a few occasions) you will have to face 'rejection'. People saying "No" to you, situations that happen and do not include you, friends not accepting you, a girl not agreeing to go to the dance with you...
There are so many scenarios in which you can feel rejected and if you want to survive it and carry on, you need to accept that it is part of life. Lets look at a few ways how you can cope with it.
The most important thing is to understand that there are nothing wrong with you. You are just not the right person at that stage or people do not believe in you enough. Many people before you have gone through rejection, on more than one occasion, before they got their 'break' in life.
If you are just giving up the first time you face rejection, you will never get anywhere in life. Read here about 'famous people' that got rejected before they 'made' it.
Rejection doesn't have to be about the big stuff like not getting into your top college, not making the team, or not getting asked to prom. Everyday situations can lead to feelings of rejection, too, like if your joke didn't get a laugh, if no one remembered to save you a seat at the lunch table, or if the person you really like talks to everyone but you.
This can happen every single day where you feel rejected, but the question is how do you handle it? Do you sulk in a corner and feel the world is against you or do you lift your head and face life again?
If you get rejected, it does not mean that you are 'hated' by others, it just means that thing are not working out the way you hoped for. Most of the time it is nothing personal, it is just 'life happening' and many times when we look back we understand that the rejection was necessary to push us in a new direction where we were suppose to go.
You will be able to deal with rejections if you stay positive and talk about your feeling and never give up trying.
If you get rejected, you will have certain feelings about it. Acknowledge them. There is nothing wrong with saying "I feel hurt, or sad or cross". Admitting that you do not feel happy about it will give yourself a chance to deal with it - we are all human and it is fine that it makes you feel down for a while.
But now after you have admitted how you felt, you will have to try and find the positive side in it all or get yourself positive to carry on again. The more negative you are about a rejection, the more you will be 'stuck in time' and not move forward to something bigger and better.
Avoid talking or thinking about it nonstop. Why? Negative thinking influences our expectations and how we act. Getting stuck in a negative outlook might even bring about more rejection. It certainly doesn't inspire a person to try again.
If you get rejected it is also important that you look at what you are thinking. Are you the person who thinks about it clearly and accepts the fact that you were rejected, because it can happen to anyone and it will happen more than once in your life time, or are you the person who starts finding fault with yourself? I am ugly or stupid or too short or fat or thin, that is why I get rejected.
If you are that person, stop it right away - rejection is not kept for only certain people, it can happen to the prettiest and thinnest kid in the school as well.
Never give up on yourself and never stop trying. Every time you get rejected, give yourself a 'pat on the back' that at least you are trying and not just giving up.
Every rejection in life will make you stronger, teach you more about yourself and others, help you to see things in a different light and get pushed in the direction you were suppose to go, to become the best person you can be.
Sometimes a rejection is a harsh reality check. But if you approach it right, it could help nudge you in a direction that turns out to be the perfect fit for your talents, personality, and all the really great things that make you who you are.
Complete the quiz to see how well you can cope and deal with rejection.
