It seems like nowadays I am very good at being rejected. Rejected by organizations, jobs, men, you name it. You are looking at a girl who was once dumped with the classic line, "It's not you, it's me."

Yep.

And even though rejection is really stupid -- even when it comes to the most overused and cliche breakup line ever -- it still hurts. You find yourself drinking wine in the bathtub, mourning a job that you didn't get, or a person you never even dated (even though you totally logged hundreds of hours on that fantasy relationship).

Rejection is always going to sting! But, what is the alternative? Never putting yourself out there? Dying alone and unemployed, with no healthcare and a bunch of dogs? Wait. Actually that sounds kind of fine. Let's all do that!

Or, since there is no way to avoid rejection, we could all just try to embrace it!

I'm not saying it's easy. I'm not saying I haven't eaten several spoonfuls of peanut butter late at night while I wept openly about that one boy. But, you can let rejection get you down, or use it to light a fire.

You can't control how people perceive you. Maybe you dressed your best, but you reminded the job interviewer of his ex-girlfriend. Maybe you said all of the right things, but the guy you like only dates blondes. Maybe you were just yourself and someone genuinely didn't like you for no reason at all. But you can control how you respond to that rejection. For the most part. After the first big cry. You can try not to dwell on it, at least, because rejection can be an incredibly motivating gift.

I don't just mean the feeling of, "Well, now I'll know how to do better next time!" I mean the felling of, "Oh, you don't think I'm good enough? I'll show you!" Cue "Eye of the Tiger," running up stairs, Rocky, etc.

Being rejected just means you weren't the right fit, it doesn't mean you weren't right. It does, however, give you thicker skin and a brilliant, wonderful excuse to work harder at whatever it is you care about! If you get rejected at work, you can take it as an invitation to make your own work. If you get rejected in love -- well, now you have all the more reason to work on loving yourself. Don't wait for someone to give you permission to do what you want to do, or to be happy.

If someone doesn't think you're good enough... well, you're the only one who can possibly prove them wrong.

I know that, in the past, I have used rejection as an excuse to mope. Who doesn't love to mope, really? You get to feel sorry for yourself, you don't have to change out of your sweatpants, and you can eat all of the donuts you want without gaining weight. (Well, I have no scientific evidence for that last part, but, hey, that's okay.)

But, I am always much, much happier when I use that rejection sting to fuel my determination: to push harder, go farther, and put myself out there with a vengeance.

So yes, rejection hurts... but, let's not give up just yet. Besides, Michael Jordan didn't give up with he got cut from his high school basketball tryouts. He used that determination to become the greatest basketball player in the world. Like, whoa! Go be the next Michael Jordan, friends! Go rejection!