Turning Rejections into Redirection: How I Transformed Multiple Setbacks into a mode of Resilience.

Designed by Tamyara Brown

This past weekend, I put my book on sale for ninety cents and sold three copies. Ouch, what a blow to the soul, right? It wasn’t due to a lack of effort; I advertised, shared, and gave plenty of reasons to buy my book. I even changed the cover, re-edited the book, and bought copies to gift. The question that has kept me up these past few hours is whether I should throw in the towel, take defeat in this writing game like a badge of honor , and give up on the career I’ve loved since I was eleven years old. Then the realization hit me: Do I love writing? Is it my calling? The answer is yes, because writing is, and always will be, my form of love to the world and therapy for me like at this very moment.

These past few months have made me wonder about my career choices as a graphic designer and writer. Being an author and a creative isn’t for the weak, and the truth is you will be sucker punch by rejection several times in your career at least that’s my journey. For me, this has been challenging in many ways and been my signature story for years.While up at 2:00 am, I found myself questioning which steps I might have missed. Was I really not worth someone spending ninety-nine cents on my novel? The truth is ever rejected it feels like a knife in my chest. How do I redirect such a negative feeling to understand God’s clear assignment? I realized every rejection was a lesson I missed, or a form of redirection and guidance to His true purpose for my life for whatever rhyme or reason. It’s funny God plans may not be mine no matter how much I want it. They say you plan and God laughs.

The thing about being rejected so often is that you build up a resistance to it. For me, it means prepping and preparing my after-rejection pep talks. You stop with the “why me” pity parties , adapt, keep trying even with every rejection is the repeat track of your life. My mantra is, “Rejection Happens.” Now, this isn’t to deny that it doesn’t hurt — I’d be lying — but my rejection pep talks for myself are pretty dope, if I must say so. You may wonder what my secret is to always being part of the “Just Say No and reject Tamyara” campaign and not lose my mind. The first step is accepting that it is a gut…