Billy-Shakespeare

Shakespeare

When I'm upset about rejection (and I've been rejected quite a few times, in quite a few different aspects of life), I just remind myself of the Jigsaw Puzzle Piece Theory of matching in life. (Okay, it isn't a real theory, it's just something my restless mind thought of over sleepless nights trying to put things into perspective. (I have a tendency to go into analytical problem-solving mode when I'm trying to get a grip on my feelings.) The Jigsaw Puzzle Piece Theory is about how each of us has a different shaped piece of the jigsaw puzzle of people and things in this world. Your piece has its own completely unique pattern of tabs and blanks, representing your individuality in this world. Now, imagine that you are your piece. You interlock in different ways with different people, different careers, and different passions in life. Sometimes, it's an obvious match, and you fit together perfectly with a certain person, a certain job or trade, a certain sport or hobby. At other times, it starts out seeming like a mismatch, until you rotate around a little bit and realise, wow.... we align, and actually fit! Life works in mysterious ways, and we sometimes end up taking the path we earlier thought we wouldn't or shouldn't take. Rejections are just the opposite..... we start out with so much hope, so much involvement, and later realise (sometimes forcibly) that there was no fit. We feel insignificant, isolated, stranded, wondering what happened. This applies to various aspects of life..... a failed relationship, a job rejection, low performance in a class, fail to make the 1st team or always lose in the semi-final.... How do we process these situations? When companies tell us you're not a fit for us right now, there's definitely a grain of truth in it. When you love someone dearly and they tell you, I don't think you're right for me, there's again some truth to it, heartbreaking as it may be. It's hard to digest these things, but we shouldn't let the rejection get to us and wallow in resentment, a loss of self-worth. Think back to the puzzle piece you are..... not every puzzle piece perfectly interlocks with every other puzzle piece, does it? In fact, they're not meant to; it doesn't make either puzzle piece 'bad' in any way, shape or form. I'm not saying don't try.... try, re-align, work on your relationships, work on your career failures, see if there could be a fit. But know how to deal with it if it's an outright rejection, an outright misfit..... take your time to grieve, process your emotions, slowly gather yourself together. Then, gradually accept it, learn: work towards honing yourself into a better puzzle piece, and heal: realise that there's another puzzle piece waiting to come along, one that will interlock perfectly with you and make you realise why things didn't work out with that previous puzzle piece.....