Handling Rejection

Simply because you have not gotten what you want doesn’t mean that it’s the end of the world.

I really wanted to join Precious Blood Riruta when I sat for my KCPE. I had heard great things about the school back in the village. I could see myself there, I fantasized about it all the time. When I received my calling letter though, I had not made the cut. I was called to a very good Provincial School back home. I had to make the best out of it.

Then I started thinking of being a journalist and KIMC was my next destination after KCSE. Great journalists at the time had come from there. I can remember scribbling KIMC on my book severally while in class. So when I applied for a Journalism course there, they wouldn’t accept me. I was disappointed and broken so I proceeded to a different college. That’s when I realized I didn’t even like journalism after all. I hated photography classes, the details of how to handle a camera, the lenses sizes etc was just too much for me. Back home on Christmas day, our village photographer would walk around the homes, ask us to line up and count one, two, three and the shot would be taken. I therefore didn’t understand what the hullabaloo was about camera adjustments and all. I majored in something different. I soon found my true passion elsewhere and I’ve never looked back.

The point is, when one door closes on your face, as they say, another opens. The problem is that we spend so much time staring at the closed door we fail to notice the new one that has opened. Sometimes, we do all in our power to break down the closed door just so we can come back in again.

I’m not saying that you should not pursue your dream passionately, you must give it your all, but should it fail to work out, don’t just stop there and organize a pity party. Start over again. It doesn’t matter if you have to start over one hundred times, just keep going until you find that which your heart truly seeks.

We have all been rejected at some point in our lives, but we didn’t die. It really doesn’t matter if at one point in your life, one or two people think you are not good enough at the time; whether professionally or otherwise. Believe in yourself, what you can do and the dreams you have inside of you and keep pushing.

So if you are currently whining and drinking yourself silly over a lost opportunity, it’s time to gather yourself together. Do not let the naysayers get into your head. Run your own race with grace, determination and passion.