Rollo Tomassi
Master Don Juan
Either directly or indirectly, I talk a lot about rejection on SS. Usually this is due to rejection, and the fear of it, being the root cause of so very many mental schemas, behaviors, rationales, etc. for guys. My thread Buffers outlines many of these rationales or conventions used to deaden the effect of rejection, but it's rejection and how one accepts it that makes for a healthy or unhealthy response to it.
Recently I've been considering the principle of rejection and I think the, now proverbial, Pook had it right - Rejection is Better than Regret. Any member with a postcount over a few hundred here have read this line in any number of posts. If you haven't go search 15 Lessons by Pook. However, for all the wisdom in that simple truth, applying it, learning from rejections and accepting rejection is what primarily trips men up.
I use men exclusively in this context because, as a Man, based on gender alone, you will experience rejection far more than any woman. Let me clarify that, you SHOULD experience rejection more than any woman. In sports, in career, in education, in personal relations, and with the opposite sex, you will statistically experience more rejection than a woman. That understanding isn't intended to wave the male power banner, or make Men the champions of virtue. Neither is it to presume women don't experience rejection; it is a simple observance of fact that rejection is an integral aspect of being male.
So, rejection is preferable to regret, we get that. What we don't get is how to accept and deal with that rejection. I'm not going to type away here and pretend that I have it figured out yet, however I can tell you how men, boys, AFCs, Symps, and even PUAs will refuse to accept and/or deal with that rejection.Go look at the Buffers thread, that's a good start, but Buffers are how men prevent rejection not how they deal with it once they're experiencing it. But just as men (and women) employ rationales and conventions to prevent or blunt a potential rejection, so to have they developed coping strategies, rationales and techniques that afford them the least amount of discomfort when they have been rejected - or in the case of women, when they are delivering that rejection.
Revenge
I mention this in particular because it's easily the most common, and potentially the most damaging reaction men have with rejection. This can be from enacting something petty and annoying to the actual murder of the rejecting woman. This is the "how can I get back at her" response, and while it may seem satisfying to 'teach her a lesson' trust that this lesson will never be taught by revenge, no matter how justified or deserving she is.
"There's not a lot of money in revenge" - Inigo Montoya
Indifference speaks volumes. The very consideration of revenge is a waste of your time, a waste of your effort, that would be better spent learning and bettering yourself from that rejection. I can personally relate a story of a young man who was just released from prison recently. He killed the boyfriend who his 'soulmate' replaced him with when he was 16 by stabbing him 32 times. That was his revenge. If he'd been 2 years older he would've been put to death or served a life sentence. You may not be that extreme in pursuing a course of revenge, but the consequences are similar. For so long as you consider revenge, no matter how petty, you'll still be attached to the emotions of that rejection. Accept the rejection, move on, rejection is better than regret - literally in this case.
Men aren't being prepared, aren't being raised to be Men. We constantly belabor this on SS, to the point that we make it a matter of personal pride and duty to instruct our fellow men less fortunate to realize it. Dealing with rejection is the lynchpin to this. When I read posts from DJs I'd otherwise consider enlightened (to the Matrix or what have you) contemplate how best to enact their 'revenge' upon a woman who refused his approach, I wonder if they are as enlightened as I gave them credit.
In facing rejection, you have no choice but to accept it. How you'll do so is a matter of your character. It's important to cultivate an almost third-person approach to accepting rejection. For a lot of people, particularly those unaccustomed or new to deep personal rejection this is a tough order. We get emotion invested and that's never conducive to make good decisions. We're particularly susceptible when we're adolescents and young adults.
Recently I've been considering the principle of rejection and I think the, now proverbial, Pook had it right - Rejection is Better than Regret. Any member with a postcount over a few hundred here have read this line in any number of posts. If you haven't go search 15 Lessons by Pook. However, for all the wisdom in that simple truth, applying it, learning from rejections and accepting rejection is what primarily trips men up.
I use men exclusively in this context because, as a Man, based on gender alone, you will experience rejection far more than any woman. Let me clarify that, you SHOULD experience rejection more than any woman. In sports, in career, in education, in personal relations, and with the opposite sex, you will statistically experience more rejection than a woman. That understanding isn't intended to wave the male power banner, or make Men the champions of virtue. Neither is it to presume women don't experience rejection; it is a simple observance of fact that rejection is an integral aspect of being male.
So, rejection is preferable to regret, we get that. What we don't get is how to accept and deal with that rejection. I'm not going to type away here and pretend that I have it figured out yet, however I can tell you how men, boys, AFCs, Symps, and even PUAs will refuse to accept and/or deal with that rejection.Go look at the Buffers thread, that's a good start, but Buffers are how men prevent rejection not how they deal with it once they're experiencing it. But just as men (and women) employ rationales and conventions to prevent or blunt a potential rejection, so to have they developed coping strategies, rationales and techniques that afford them the least amount of discomfort when they have been rejected - or in the case of women, when they are delivering that rejection.
Revenge
I mention this in particular because it's easily the most common, and potentially the most damaging reaction men have with rejection. This can be from enacting something petty and annoying to the actual murder of the rejecting woman. This is the "how can I get back at her" response, and while it may seem satisfying to 'teach her a lesson' trust that this lesson will never be taught by revenge, no matter how justified or deserving she is.
"There's not a lot of money in revenge" - Inigo Montoya
Indifference speaks volumes. The very consideration of revenge is a waste of your time, a waste of your effort, that would be better spent learning and bettering yourself from that rejection. I can personally relate a story of a young man who was just released from prison recently. He killed the boyfriend who his 'soulmate' replaced him with when he was 16 by stabbing him 32 times. That was his revenge. If he'd been 2 years older he would've been put to death or served a life sentence. You may not be that extreme in pursuing a course of revenge, but the consequences are similar. For so long as you consider revenge, no matter how petty, you'll still be attached to the emotions of that rejection. Accept the rejection, move on, rejection is better than regret - literally in this case.
Men aren't being prepared, aren't being raised to be Men. We constantly belabor this on SS, to the point that we make it a matter of personal pride and duty to instruct our fellow men less fortunate to realize it. Dealing with rejection is the lynchpin to this. When I read posts from DJs I'd otherwise consider enlightened (to the Matrix or what have you) contemplate how best to enact their 'revenge' upon a woman who refused his approach, I wonder if they are as enlightened as I gave them credit.
In facing rejection, you have no choice but to accept it. How you'll do so is a matter of your character. It's important to cultivate an almost third-person approach to accepting rejection. For a lot of people, particularly those unaccustomed or new to deep personal rejection this is a tough order. We get emotion invested and that's never conducive to make good decisions. We're particularly susceptible when we're adolescents and young adults.