This article was last updated on March 18, 2014
Probably most of you know that Facebook just bought WhatsApp for $16 000 000 000, for those who don’t know what WhatsApp is; it’s an ad-free mobile messaging app that allows users to exchange text and media messages through their Internet data plan or through Wi-Fi. Users do not have to pay for SMS. How is that connected to the title? Continue reading and you will find out.
Rejection can be a good thing.
I haven’t met anyone yet who has not felt the sting of rejection at some point in his or her life. You have probably been rejected by friends or family, or your teacher, or your job application was turned down. Maybe you were fired, I don’t know, but that doesn’t mean that you are not good enough.
Often times we are redirected to something better. J. K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter after being sacked as a secretary for ‘daydreaming’. She then got rejected by not one, not two, but 12 publishers before the chairman of Bloomsbury brought home the Potter manuscript for his daughter Alice to read. Almost every record label turned down Beatles. Thomas Edison’s teachers told him he was “too stupid to learn anything.” Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper editor because he “lacked imagination and had no good ideas.” Oprah Winfrey was told she was “unfit for TV.” Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team. See Also (How to Take Advantage Of Opportunities)
Brian Acton got his job application rejected by Facebook at 2009 – then he co-founded WhatsApp with Jan Koum and yesterday Facebook bought WhatsApp For $16 000 000 000.
I could continue forever. But you have to understand that being rejected is not a bad thing, it’s your attitude when you get rejected that matters. Don’t you want to prove people wrong when you get rejected? I do.
You must become the kind of person who grows from rejection. I’ve gotten rejected lots of times–tons. It sucks every single time. It will always hurt. But it doesn’t always have to stop you cold. When I look at the past year alone since starting coinstatics.com, I’ve been told many times “no,” or “later,” and “maybe not.” I was rejected by so many people when I asked for help and I continue to get rejected on a daily basis, but that doesn’t matter. I am not giving up. I am willing to trade 10 000 no’s for just one yes. Being rejected is not a disaster, disaster is being trapped in a mine, disaster is being in a plane that’s going down.
The possibilities for learning from rejection are endless. It might be that you realize just how important a particular value is to you compared to someone else (like loyalty). Or it could be that you understand now that if you learned to communicate your feelings better, it would make a huge difference in your next relationship. And since we’re all going to experience AND live through rejection, why not make it a point to learn something?
Have you ever known anyone who has such a level of confidence that they face rejection and come out unscathed? I guess we all have that one friend who is not scared to go out and ask absolutely every girl he meets, and in the ends he always has a date. These people “secret” is that they are totally comfortable with the fact that with rejection there can be great learning and growth. They are also the individuals who have learned not to take rejection personally. They are able to understand that sometimes rejection may be a blessing in disguise and that it can take time for that fact to reveal itself.
You should always remember that there is no shame in being rejected. The real shame lies in not trying and giving up. Just remember, sometimes it isn’t about you at all. Sometimes it’s about what the other person’s journey is supposed to be. It’s a hard lesson, but one that all of us can understand.
So, in your life – have you been “rejected” lately? And if so, what did you make that mean about yourself? I know it hurts and it will for a while – this too will pass. But what did you make the rejection MEAN about yourself? Did you make it mean something negative about you? Or did you just take it as GRACE and move on?
