I had often heard other people's rejection stories on areas such as love, business, friendship and the likes but I couldn't relate. At least not until 2018 when I got faced with my own share of rejection. Did it hurt me so much? How did I get by? These are probably the questions going through your mind now but not to worry. Just relax and read along with me, we're about to find that out in this blog.
So as earlier stated, my first and probably the last for now encounter with rejection happened in 2018, a year after my car accident. Then, I was still in highschool and this competition came up, it was a beauty pageant tagged with an eye bulging prize money. The organizers came to our school to inform the students of the grand event. Many girls particularly were excited and filled their registration forms immediately.
Being the girl that always had strong passion for pageantry and modelling since age six, I couldn't overlook this one. So, after my parent's approval, I signed up the following day. The good thing was that the competition was to take place during the summer break, so I didn't have to worry about missing school. I wasn't going to be alone either because some of my very good friends were auditioning as well.
On the day of the audition, I arrived at the venue along with my friends. I kept my fingers crossed as I awaited my turn. A few of my friends got in and I was so excited for them. Finally it was turn, my number was called and I went into the room. Little did I know that the auditioning involved body check and few irrelevant questions.
The so called “judges” scanned through my body from head to toe. At that time, I was undergoing puberty so I had quite a lot of visible pimples and dark spots on my face. That was the first issue. The second was the scars I sustained from my forementioned car accident. There were some bad scars on my left leg. And unfortunately, I was rejected with little or no compassion. In their words, I was “unfit” and “flawed”. I didn't meet the criteria to contest for the pageantry due to my scars. I guess they were looking for girls with more perfect skin.
Funnily enough, I looked around and saw that most of the people that got accepted were light-skinned girls who were of more taller height than me. And I didn't belong in that category. Honestly, never had I felt so disappointed my whole life. I was judged and rejected for something I had no control over and it belittled my self-esteem. I remember leaving that place teary eyed. My friends tried to console me but it wasn't of much help.
How was a 15 year old girl filled with enthusiasm but shattered by rejection supposed to react? I don't know how others would've felt but I felt really bad. I had just barely managed to get over my flaws but there I was, reminded again by the hurtful words of those judges.
However, I somehow managed to cope and overcome my hurt. How? Well, I guess by first acknowledging how I felt. I didn't try to deny the fact that I was hurt by the rejection. Trying too hard to deny ourselves of our feelings only leads to a later outburst. It's important to own up to it. I let myself hurt for a while then rose from my melancholy and reaffirmed my self-worth.
My mom was particularly one of the people who helped me realize I had so much more value within me. I also realized how pathetic it was of me to let myself down for something that petty. I mean, it wasn't at first because I wanted it so much. But now that I look at it, it wasn't worth the tears.
Lastly, I decided to not overthink it anymore. Overthinking wasn't going to help me get over my hurt so I stopped and tried to channel my energy to something more positive. I started keeping myself busy with productive stuff, practicing self-love and you know, just trying to become a better version of myself.
Of course, I can't say I've reached that version yet but I'm proud of the person I'm steady becoming. Although, I haven't come across another opportunity but if I do, my one-time rejection won't stop me from going for what I want. That sad experience is now in the past and it doesn't hurt anymore. I guess it's the same with other people too. No matter the kind, rejection can always be overcomed. Not only does time heal the pain but our action does more. With this experience of mine, I hope we can all learn something too 🙂.
This post was prompted by the first edition of the @hive-learners weekly featured topics for week 33 on the title; “REJECTION”.
THANKS FOR READING! ❤️