How do you react to a ‘NO’?

Rejection hurts.

This is probably not news to anyone that is reading this but I’m going to reiterate.

Rejection hurts.

It might be the usual story of the girl saying no to your beautifully crafted and creatively imagined date proposal or the long letter from the school you’ve always wanted to go to giving you reasons you’ve not been accepted. It can also be just your mum saying you can’t break your fast because you feel sick.

It still hurts.

Really badly at times.

Currently, I’m listening to my friend rant about the innumerable choices of the male species that she has and how confusing it is for her to pick one. Unfortunately, I can’t relate. I’m currently brooding about my hard luck with women. I know it is possibly because I’m not one to usually put myself out there constantly. I’m also usually horrible at keeping in touch with people as I have a procrastination problem (I know almost everyone has this but I take it to a whole different level - believe me).

Anyways, I’m not about to sulk for the whole of this post. Rejection is a reaction. It’s a reply to a request. A negative one. I don’t know if this happened to everyone but my parents made me believe that you cannot get everything you want. This is also something the christian faith has supported by saying everything has been willed by God to happen and are not necessarily what we want to happen.

The main point is if we got everything we wanted, there would be no point in working for anything. Nothing would have value. The NBA superstar, Joel Embiid apparently had a liking for Rihanna and was told to become an All-Star first when he expressed his feelings. Now that he has become one, he has decided to move on. That gives me a perspective to this. Rejection has a way of testing how badly you want something and what you are willing to do for it (or not). We can also just accept that after fighting to get something, it really isn’t for us/worth it and move on. It might feel like a waste of all that effort but in the end, it builds character. It shows us the depth of our drive and helps redirect us to something that more aligns with our goals.

More value is attached to something when you have to work really hard to get it. This is the truth. No matter how much we believe in fast breaks and overnight success, there is always that elite club that you have to put in extra to be a part of. There is always something more to test your resolve and if we’re going to be knocked down by every ‘no’ we get, then we probably are going in the wrong direction.

I’m actually writing this because I got a ‘no’. It really hit me hard. I can decide to keep on trying. I can decide to move on. I can decide to throw all the subs possible. For different people and situations, it’ll always be a different decision but I feel before you decide, know the reason behind it. It’ll help you be a better person eventually. Also, be respectful of the other person’s decision. It’s the least we can do.