Does anyone embrace rejection well, especially when it comes from a person or people they care about? Have you ever personally experienced this? Twice now it’s happened to me since moving to Toledo and it’s something that’s really been difficult to deal with.
In both cases, I was attempting to be part of two different groups of men that were in an organization I’ve been a member of for over 18 years. And while others continued to be accepted just fine at each and welcomed in with open arms, I personally was given a rejection stamp and told it wasn’t me specifically as a person, it was just that they felt I would be too triggering for others already in the group.
Too triggering for what you may ask?
Well, I wondered that myself and inquired further. And the answer was something I’ve often spoken about in many of my previous writings.
My personality seems to be a magnet for people to see parts of themselves that are still broken and haven’t been worked through within them yet. In other words, I somehow tend to trigger people into seeing things about themselves they either don’t want to see or they’re not ready to see.
I’m often told I’m just like someone’s mother, or father, or uncle, or sister, or brother, or boss, or someone else they have issues with, usually anger. And in the cases of both of these groups that told me I wasn’t welcomed, it was told to me that too many of them saw me as that mirror and didn’t want to deal with the stress of having to face those issues week to week in their circles.
At first, I was extremely angry and frustrated, as I’ve learned in life to work through things like this instead of run from them. There are plenty of people who are a mirror for myself with personality quirks I haven’t worked through yet. But I welcome those people in my life because I want to spiritually grow and not remain stagnant. I want to be challenged so that I may walk through those uncomfortable situations with people who trigger me until I’m not triggered anymore. And you know what? I do it every day in many of my social settings and become a lot healthier because of it.
But far more important, I also think of Jesus who never rejected anyone, neither did Mother Theresa, or Martin Luther King Jr., or Gandhi, or plenty of others as well. Each welcomed every single human being into their circles and spent time around countless individuals who probably made them feel uncomfortable, yet they worked through it and loved them anyway.
With that being said, in the long run, I’m actually starting to feel a little grateful I received those rejections, because God closed a few doors for me that wouldn’t have represented the unconditional love I know God stands for, and in turn showed me a few other doors to groups which did. And because of this, I’ve acquired some acceptance and find myself feeling a whole lot better about the whole thing.
So, the next time you find yourself receiving a rejection stamp from anyone and/or told you are too triggering for whatever the reason, be grateful as you’re probably being led away by your Higher Power from something that really isn’t in alignment with your spiritual journey. Instead, try to have some acceptance that a healthier door will open or is already open to you somewhere else to people who will embrace you with open arms and love you no matter what…
Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson
