It’s Okay to Feel Sad When Your Work Is Rejected
Stop pretending you’re okay when you’re not.
Though I was nervous and a part of me didn’t believe my work was good enough, I pressed the Submit button. I leaned back against my chair and sighed in relief. It was done. I’d pitched my first article to Better Humans. A chill of excitement went through me, and I felt confident they would accept the piece.
I’d worked on it for nearly two weeks — wrote about 2,500 words, edited and added research for hours, and finally, sent it to my mastermind group for feedback. I received such great edits I was sure I had it in the bag.
I thought I’d done everything Better Humans was looking for and then, five days later, I got the email. Thanks very much for your article proposal. We took a look and unfortunately it’s not a good fit for Better Humans.
My heart broke immediately. I re-read that line about five times before it sunk in. But before I could feel deeply disappointed I thought, “You shouldn’t feel sad.” Because don’t people say you should celebrate rejection?
My mind automatically went to how I could find the good in this situation.
I tried to smile, to feel good, but it wasn’t working. All I could think about was…
