HANDLING REJECTION II

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Wisdom Nugget: "He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering."



It was Sylvester Stallone of the "Rambo" fame who said, "I take rejection as someone blowing a bugle in my ear to wake me up and get going, rather than retreat." And Louise Nevelson added, "I think all great innovations are built on rejections." It's amazing how people take rejection when it hits them; some respond with outstanding mind blowing results, while yet others react with devastating consequences. Different strokes for different folks, you might say.

Freddy was a soldier who was finally coming home after having fought in Vietnam. He called his parents from San Francisco.  "Mom and Dad, I'm coming home, but I have a favour to ask. I have a friend I'd like to bring home with me. "Sure," they replied, "we'd love to meet him." "There's something you should know," Freddy continued, "he was hurt pretty badly in the fighting. He stepped on a land mine and lost an arm and a leg. He has nowhere else to go, and I want him to come live with us." "I'm sorry to hear that, son. Maybe we can help him find somewhere to live." "No, I want him to live with us." "Son," said the father, "you don't know what you're asking. Someone with such disabilities would be a terrible burden on us. We have our own lives to live, and we can't let something like this interfere with our lives. I think you should just come home and forget about this guy. He'll find a way to live on his own."At that point, Freddy hung up the phone. The parents heard nothing more from him. A few days later, however, they received a call from the San Francisco police. Freddy had died after falling from a building, they were told. The police believed it was suicide. The grief-stricken parents flew to San Francisco and were taken to the city morgue to identify the body of their son. They recognized him, but to their horror they also discovered something they didn't know, their son had only one arm and one leg

Freddy's parents are like many of us today we find it easy to love those who are good-looking or fun to have around. We would rather stay away from people who aren't as healthy, beautiful, or smart as we expect. Thankfully, there's someone who won't treat us that way. Someone who loves us with an unconditional love that welcomes us into the forever family, regardless of how messed up we are.

We can either be victims of, or victors over rejection.