Three Ways to Handle Rejection With Grace

Rejection is defined as the dismissing or refusing of a person's idea's or concepts. Today my husband was denied employment through a company which he so desperately wanted to work for.Over the last few months, he went back to school, built up his portfolio and made a plan all fit for this opportunity. I spent the majority of the afternoon encouraging him and letting him know that rejection is not always the end. Although I am sure he does not feel encouraged now, when someone recognizes his strengths and accepts him he will see what I was trying to say. I like to personally think of Oprah's story. She was rejected from her first television job because they said that she was unfit for TV. Can you imagine that? Oprah Winfrey, who now owns her very OWN channel was thought to be unfit? It is truly unbelievable . This story always encourages me, because what one person may see as trash another person will value as a treasure.Rejection is never fun but, unfortunately, it is a part of everyone's lives . Every one of us will have to face rejection at some point or another.  The common scenarios where people face rejection are in dating scenarios, looking for a new job and applying for college. Those are not the only examples , but instead, they are the most common. Learning how to deal with rejection will help you to heal from the situation (personal or business situation) quickly and more effectively.Listed below are three quick ways to work through your rejection:

1. Accept it- the truth is, the things that do not work for us were not truly meant for us to begin with.  We have to believe that when one door closes it opens up room for a door to open leading us to a much better opportunity. We also have to accept that the specific rejection does not define who you are as a person. Most people let rejection take over their life. They begin to believe that they cannot do anything right in that area again. They feel hopeless. Do not become consumed in the rejection. Do not let rejections make you think that this is the way things will always be. If you get caught in that trap you will have a hard time finding happiness or success.
2. Embrace it - rejection is part of life and it happens to everyone at some point. We have the chance to learn from it. Truthfully learning that I wasn't accepted by everyone was what encouraged me to begin to love myself. The most important thing to gain from rejection is that it doesn't have to become you. Embrace your strength for being fearless enough to try out for such an opportunity. This helps to change your perspective from pessimistic to optimistic.
3. Learn from it - when rejection happens, learn ways that you can grow and mature from the situation.  This also gives you a chance to change your approach. Although my husband did not get this job he did ask the recruiter what skills he should work on and what things they liked about him. He now knows what he can and should work on going forward in his next interview.

What are ways that you have handled rejection? What has worked for you? What hasn't?