By Bhagyashree Saini

I am rejected for my failures,

Omg!!! I am selected and you are not.

I am rejected for marriage,

What is so humorous about you,

nothing except your white teeth !!

Dowry, compare family and mine status.

I am rejected to be a friend,

Your status is not equal to us.

I am rejected for my write-ups,

Sorry, mam – They are not up to our policies and standards !!!.

I am rejected for my dressing sense,

Typical girl with long dupatta,

Hair tied with a lot of oil in them

I am rejected for my English, language proficiency.

I am rejected to be from a rural background,

And she is from a big city, Me small village girl with small dreams – “their’s prejudice”.

I am rejected for being ambitious,

Ambitious is so-called “dirty word” for women.

I am rejected for being in depression,

Can’t attend your call,

Similar talks – are you sick!!.

There was a phase for all this, which included an element of irritation, anger, frustration, that related to the feeling of “being rejected”. It was like, sometimes, I can’t find the strength to grab the bull and fight the demons inside me.

But I chose to act positively on it, instead of being falling for that self-destructive behavior. Whenever I read and hear such a hateful comment in my Facebook inbox or from anyone, I feel myself becoming smaller, worthless and my first instinct is to spend my whole day analyzing that comment in every direction (east-west- north-south, up and down).

At some point, we all live in fear of Rejection and it stops us from going after lots of thing that we want in our life. Rejection therapy is about becoming desensitized to rejection. I realized through my thousand rejections that I am also a ‘Human being’.

 I realized through my rejections that I was not empowered enough to say “NO” at that time. In this process of rejection, I felt that I was repelled enough. Now, I know from where to sustain my belief. We only know, “How to view ourselves in the world and How much power we possess.

So, go out every day and be rejected by someone and something, because exposing yourself to situations that you know, are completely out of your league, cultivates fearlessness.

 You just move on to the next thing. And then you get a win, that really neutralizes the ‘No,’ that went before.

About the Author: Bhagyashree Saini, a survivor of Child Marriage, is a Women and Child rights Activist from Rajasthan, India. She pursued her master’s degree in Public Administration and got herself certified in International Women’s Health and Human rights from Stanford University, Child rights from Harvard University and Gender & Sexuality issues from University of British Columbia. She currently writes on platforms like “UNICEF”, “International youth journal”, “Story Mirror”, “Women Web”, “Youth ki aawaz” etc. with main focus on issues related to Child marriage, women and child rights. She had also been associated with Pratham NGO for education of dropout girls . She is serving as a “Women and Child Wing President” in National youth council of India. Her other research include’s International Women and Child rights, Gender & Sexuality and tribal issues.