How Can We Deal with Rejection?

Before he was unable to sell his many paintings—one significant form of rejection—Vincent van Gogh experienced another devastating life event. The woman he wanted to marry turned him down with these words:

Never, no, never.

Vincent's letters, and the biographies written about him, confirm how this negative response impacted the artist.

Have you ever experienced a rejection which was extremely hard to take? How were you able to move forward from such an awful event?

Vincent never married. Do you think that his embarassing romantic rejection impacted him for the rest of his life?

Can you think of how a profound rejection could be resolved, transforming it from a negative situation to a positive one? What are some of the things we can do when faced with such life-shattering events?