It is a very painful experience of social rejection. Being excluded or away from the group is a kind of rejection. In everyday life, situations of rejection are often less soft and smooth. There may be getting letters seeking answers, not receiving an invitation to a party (when others are obviously going), not being mentioned among the collaborators working on a shared project (when other colleagues are on the list), having a proposal rejected (when others have received positive responses) …
Facing rejection properly is a challenge nowadays because people become more sensitive. Here are some things we can do that will help us deal with feelings of rejection and see the problem from a different perspective.
1. Not Exaggregate the Criticism
If you get a rejection by your boss in putting forward an idea, or even just criticized it. There’s no reason to feel judged as though you’re a bad employee. Just tell yourself (and repeat it inwardly) that in this particular situation, your point of view and your boss’s are different. You should understand that rejecting someone’s idea is not the same as rejecting the person. Often the feeling of rejection, especially in highly sensitive people, is subjective.
2. Be Kind to Yourself
Learn to forgive yourself for your own mistakes and imperfections. Just think of others with empathy and kindness. The idea is then to treat yourself the same way. If you’re less demanding with yourself, others will not reject you for all that. And your little inner voice, so often critical, will be more easily silenced.
3. Social Connection after Rejection
After a rejection, you should not be alone or work, sleep, or have addictions such as alcohol. Devote yourself to your regular daily activities and try to be in group. “Finding other people, working on these little things, making these efforts of self-control, will be a small but vital help,” emphasizes Christophe André, a psychologist.
4. Social Network
Another way to deal with rejection is to cultivate as large and varied a social network as possible. “Yet the scarcity of connections makes their loss or alteration more painful. Why shouldn’t having a few very good, close friends be compatible with having many more superficial friends and acquaintances? Why cut them out of your life? It’s also an exercise in acceptance of others,” concludes André.