#197 – Who would you be if you could handle rejection?

The ability to handle (i.e. ignore) rejection is the most powerful tool anyone who aspires to true freedom must hone.

When I was a teenager, many dancing clubs in Madrid didn't let in people wearing white socks. Why? Because, at the time, only young men doing the mandatory military service wore white socks to dancing clubs. And dancing clubs didn't want to deal with gangs of "horny" young men "looking for trouble" on their free weekend in town.

Whom or what did this absurd rule speak about, the young men, or the clubs?

In all aspects of life, you have two options. Either you:

• Abide by the rules of the place you want to get in, or
• Choose a different place, with a different set of rules (i.e. boundaries).

When boundaries (someone's or someplace's) keep you out, it doesn't mean you're wrong. It means there's a mismatch between what you are/do/say/write and what they are and are willing to let in.

Is that a bad thing? Only if you allow it to be.

Today I had a job interview – one of those one-way video interviews that show the laziness (maybe it's overwhelm) of employers looking for talent. I thought, oh, no, I'll have to dress up, comb my hair and put on some make up.

And then I thought again: no way. This is who I am now. They want to see me to assess whether or not I'm whom they're looking for? Then I better be my True Self. Otherwise, I could fake it very well only to find myself in a position of absolute dissonance, needing to keep faking it in order to "perform" according to their rules.

Do you need the world to validate you, by allowing you as you are, anywhere you go? Do you need everyone to like you and accept you? Do you want everyone to admire your work?

If the answer's yes, rejection sure hurts. It also enslaves you.

Do you want to be truly free? Then stop requiring to be accepted.

Rejection actually does you a favor. It helps you find your true tribe, the spaces where you fit in with no effort, the people you resonate with.

While being your True Self.

Where is rejection offering you an opportunity today?

Love,

Carolina