Rejection Isn’t Personal

There are infinite quotidian human experiences ripe for interpreting: putting off housework, caring about who I sit next to at a dinner party, struggling to get dressed. They stack up every day. I’m particularly fond of using them to draw ungenerous conclusions: I’m shallow, selfish, lazy, dishonest. I’ve trained myself away from defending my goodn... See more

When you read into every rejection, you keep yourself isolated. But when you accept that rejection isn’t personal, you set out on the road toward compassion and love, for yourself and others. You prepare to become a person who can transform other people’s hearts and transform the world.

Opening your heart to who you are includes opening your heart t... See more

The examined life

What if our worst qualities are actually our best? Recently I listened to an interview with Irish theologist and poet John O’Donohue from 2006 in which he asked what would happen if the things we hate about ourselves, the qualities we despise and can’t stand, are actually the best things about who we are. It was a powerful reframe... See more

Trying to avoid rejection is like trying to avoid sunlight. Rejection is painful but it also helps you to grow. It can burn you but it’s everywhere. It feels good to show your face and be seen, once you accept that we’re all afraid and we will all get burned over and over again. It feels good to be brave and accept that you aren’t in control at all... See more