Is rejection failure?

Many platitudes and sayings about failure espouse the theory that it’s not about falling down, it’s about getting back up again.  Presumably you just dust yourself off and start over again.

As if it’s that easy when something you worked diligently toward and gave your best efforts to doesn’t yield the results you wanted...whether it’s a book submission, an audition, a job interview, getting into a certain school or even a relationship. 

Instead of lamenting our letdowns, we’re supposed to put on our game face and keep going, be grateful for all we do have.  If we tell our friends, we should get sympathy and support, at least in the short term.  Good friends know the right things to say to shore up our feelings.

 

If we don't tell, no one except those doing the naysaying will know.  But if we've put it out there that we submitted to X editor or, as some do on FB, auditioned for Y role, some are bound to ask how it turned out.  "They went in a different direction," you might say.      

 

Certain careers are rejection prone--acting, freelancing, sales, writing.  If you get a “no,” put another iron in the fire and believe something will come to fruition eventually.  Or you may wonder if the time has come to choose a more stable career.  

Perhaps the key is not to get your hopes up.  Simply go about the business of pursuing your dreams with no expectations.