People are going to reject us. We can crook ourselves into a pretzel to avoid it, but it’ll happen anyway. We can wear a mask, but it’ll happen anyway. And then we will have labored in inauthenticity for nothing. If instead of focusing our energy on an impossibility—avoiding rejection through inauthenticity—we focus our energy on softening rejection’s bitterness, then we can access authenticity alongside connection. We can even reframe rejection as a symbol of pride, a collateral for us making every effort to curate the life and the relationships we truly want. It’s a ticket to a life lived
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