Rejection

My twin daughters tried out for a team this week and found out today that neither of them made it. They were crushed. I was crushed for them. We told them they could feel as sad and disappointed as they wanted, cause it’s hard. But I also told them about how much rejections in my life have helped me grow. A little while later, one of my girls brought me this drawing she made. I love it so much! And I love the term she came up with, “rejection fuel.” When I first started painting professionally, I applied for so many shows and got rejected all the time. It was hard and I felt so bummed. But inevitably, I would get to a point where I wanted to get better. So I’d pick something I wanted to work on (color mixing, edges, values, composition, etc.). I would read about it, learn about it and practice, practice, practice. Eventually, the hard work would pay off and I watched my paintings get better. And then I’d apply again the next year and sometimes instead of rejection, there was acceptance and even awards. This cycle still helps me when I get rejected today and I feel so proud that at age ten, my daughters are already learning it. I watched them both feel really sad, and then they started to make a plan: here’s what I’m going to work on to improve. Rejection fuel. I believe sometimes it’s the best thing that can ever happen to us ❤️❤️❤️