Why Am I Getting Rejected? Emotional Rejection & Self-Worth

For many years, people have experienced rejection in so many ways and at different times in their lives. Rejection was injected into society from what seems like the beginning of time.

Emotional rejection can show up in many areas of life and often affects us in ways we don’t immediately recognize. Experiencing emotional rejection in childhood or relationships can shape how we see ourselves.

You may find yourself asking the same question today, “Why Am I Getting Rejected”? and if that is where you are right now, you are not alone in that question.

While rejection can come in many different forms, what doesn’t change is the negative emotional impact it leaves on someone. It can bring up emotions such as anger, sadness, frustration, jealousy, or disappointment. In some cases, those emotions can linger longer than expected.

What many people do not realize is that rejection can also affect the body, that can result in feelings of physical pain.

• Have you noticed that certain feelings that stemmed from being rejected last longer than other moments of being rejected?

Understanding Emotional Rejection

Growing up, I experienced rejection within my family. At the time, I was too young to be able to identify that it was rejection, but I knew something felt off emotionally. I experienced feelings of sadness and that sadness over time developed into depression.

The pain continued to grow because I didn’t know how to deal with it.

As I got older, rejection continued in many different forms. From being turned down by prospective employers, credit card companies, to social circles and even food establishments.

Experiencing rejection by a food establishment doesn’t compare to the experience of being rejected by my family. Both cut into negative feelings differently in a much deeper way.

The Chicken and Cheese Quesadilla Rejection

One example that stands out in a lighter way was something as simple as ordering food.

Every time I would call a certain food establishment to order a chicken and cheese quesadilla, I would experience rejection because the store claimed to not have the ingredients in stock. No matter how many different times I would try to order the quesadilla, the answers were still the same.

At one point, I even contacted customer service because I could not understand how a well-known establishment could consistently not have the ingredients in stock. The emotional feelings of frustration, anger, and disappointment set in so deeply that I felt like crying!

Eventually, I had to step back from letting that situation affect my emotions. Thankfully, I made peace with the situation and decided to not allow rejection to overcome me. While I still occasionally ask (because I don’t give up on hope), I have several other food options as a back-up just in case the answer is still no.

While this experience is much smaller compared to others, rejection from my family cut so much deeper and carried a heavier weight.

Family Rejection

A lot of times, the rejection we experience from people has a way of causing real damage. We start to question so many things and most of what we question starts with us.

We’re the first to attack our self, as if the rejection from the other person wasn’t enough pain.

I began asking myself what I had done wrong. I questioned my worth and tried to understand why I was being rejected in the first place. The rejection caused so much pain that I would experience sleepless nights and dark days on a sunny day.

No one knew what I was going through because I was embarrassed to ever let another person know that my family had rejected me.

During that time, it felt like one of the biggest things I could ever do to mess up as a human being was to get rejected. I thought that I couldn’t possibly ever be accepted by anyone else if my family already rejected me. If no one would ever love and care for me in this world, I thought at least my family would. Right?

On top of the rejection, I was lied to for so many years and I ended up experiencing so many other situations.

Structural Support

Over time, I began to understand something important.

Rejection does not define me. It does not determine my worth, identity or future.

While rejection can create emotional pain, it does not have to become your permanent emotional state. Understanding emotional rejection is a step toward rebuilding self-worth.

The feelings of rejection may not go away immediately, but you can begin with making a decision to stop attaching your identity to experiences that are outside of your control.

No matter what type of rejection you have experienced, your life does not stop there.

There are ways to begin rebuilding emotionally, even when things feel uncertain.

You are not defined by what has been taken away. Help is available and you can continue to receive practical support, reflection, and guidance as you take this journey.

As more blog posts are shared, it is my hope that you will be comforted and begin to experience brighter days one step at a time.

Please join me as we continue on this blog journey to learn more about rejection. Our focus will shift toward understanding how to continue living life when rejection feels constant.

You’re welcome to share this blog with anyone that would like to read it and can be encouraged by it.

I’ll see you in the next blog post Beautiful!