Rising Above Rejection — Part Five
A key strategy to rising above the rejection of others towards you is a recognition that the root of rejection is fear. Deep in our core being, human beings fear being rejected. It is for this reason, that we stop people from coming too close to us, by being self-protective and hiding our real selves from the people around us. We fear not being accepted for who we really are or for what we stand for.
The focus of today’s blog is to slowly peel off our defense layers and our self-protective barriers as if we are peeling off the skin of an onion to shine a microscopic light on the fear. What are we scared of? Do we fear being ridiculed when the real ‘us’ emerges? Are we frightened of being hurt and abandoned by other people? Do we wish to avoid the pain aftermath? What is causing us to retreat into our self-protective barriers? Do confirm to the expectations of others because we want so badly to be validated? Why do we keep ourselves hidden under close wraps? Is the fact that we don’t allow people to see us as we truly are, a form of our self-rejection? Could it be that we do not accept and embrace ourselves? If we peel off the layer further, can the fact that we fear rejection mean that deep-down we are ashamed of ourselves? Like Adam and Eve who hid from God when they ate the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, because they felt ashamed?
“Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him. “Where are you?” So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked and I hid myself” Genesis 3:9–10
We rise above rejection by recognizing that our self-protective barriers to stop people getting close to us, can lead to loneliness and isolation. It can also prevent us from developing close relationships with others.
Secondly, self-protective barriers, hiding and our subconscious defenses is not the solution to the issue of rejection.
Thirdly, we rise above rejection with the awareness that God, our loving Father, calls us to come to Him, to find His love, His forgiveness and His acceptance. God’s perfect love casts out the fear of rejection
