For centuries, and for as long as man has walked the earth, rejection has nabbed at man’s growth, Psyche, Emotions, Spirituality, and at his general capacity to be fruitful in every regard.
Its lethal shadow has taken different forms; a bitter word, an unwelcome gesture, a tactless facial expression. It has made grand entrances into classrooms and stole the dignity in particularized childhoods; it has separated nations and disintegrated the human race.
It has left hearts tattered and torn, hindering the capacity to love again, to feel, to trust, to hope and to Live! Rejection has caused the demise of reputable families; it has isolated individuals from a beautiful world, kissed their livelihoods, with shame and utter discomfort. Rejection has stolen the voice of our hearts and is hence a lethal impediment.
CHILDHOOD: Most of us still cringe when we hear the scraping of chalk against the chalkboard; the squeaky or hoarse voice that picked at us and humiliated us before our peers still resounds in our heads.
The trauma of social circles that weren’t so social, the playgrounds that were supposed to groom us and equip us with variety of skill, has haunted our emotions, killed our capacity to grow into mature adults and we are thus rendered rejected?
Rejection people face at their childhood stage, if left unfixed or dealt with, usually finds its way into a person’s adulthood and it ultimately stagnates their growth and diminishes their capacity to reach their full potential in different areas of their lives.
RELATIONSHIPS: ‘Matters of the heart’ are the hardest hit by rejection. Men and women have been called ugly, or not good enough, their hearts have been shattered beyond repair and their love thrown back in their faces. Men remain in boys shells because they have been rejected their whole lives and, therefore, are too afraid to get out of their young shells and embrace or take on the world.
Women have been reduced to commodities and their esteems diminished by rejection rendering them vulnerable to loneliness or prone to settle in loveless and abusive relationships. Men and women alike, from a diversity of age groups, are heavily laden with the pain and impact of rejection in various aspects of their lives.
FAMILY: Rejection in this social institution can be debilitating, parents, children, siblings; relatives alike can reject or be rejected.
A family being amongst the nurturing, life giving, and soul teaching institution can do the complete opposite if it is deficient in aspects pertaining to acceptance, tolerance it gives room for the lethal impediment. Children can be born into rejection, be fed rejection, and breathe it in; they ultimately will give it off and radiate it to the world around them.
CHURCH: The church, just like the family, is an institution system that has its governing and functional social systems which are crucial to an individual’s life.
The churches wear the emblem of acceptance, love, healing and tolerance to a broken society and its individuals. Once rejection sticks its nose into this institution as it has done many times, then a lethal impediment has been pierced in the very essence of an individual’s source of hope.
Livelihoods are crushed and wrong doing becomes a norm that has no ending or no remedy because those who did wrong and attempted to seek refuge were rejected.
WORK: The work environment can be a very busy place to be, whether indoors or in the office, the work load, idea sharing and everything else is done and can be pretty exhaustive, demanding and draining.
Sometimes however co workers have a clash of interests and ideas and opinions and there sometimes creates a breeding ground for rejection. Rejection of one’s input into anything productive can be debilitating and harmful to the ‘self’ especially if executed in an improper manner.
Rejection in our very societies, because of race, health, social status, creed, lack, abundance and any other distinguishing factor, can be debilitation to an individual and ultimately the society in which he/she lives.
In any given instance, when an individual wholeheartedly gives of themselves; could be one giving of their heart, their mind, or any other service, that alone reciprocated with a lack of appreciation can be tantamount to rejection. Rome was not built in a day like the saying goes, rejection begins with a feeling inside every human being, then it becomes a problem society cannot handle alone. It is also a very small feeling that if swallowed and disallowed to grow within an individual can die off and society at large will learn the virtues of acceptance and tolerance.
Many social ills can be avoided if rejection was not given proper breeding space in our hearts, in our societies, our nation and our world at large.
It starts with you and me.
