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3 reasons why you need to get rejected
Rejection sucks. Most people do anything they can to avoid it. But here’s the thing: you need to get rejected.
Did you know that physical pain and pain from rejection light up the same part of your brain? Even when it’s something as passive as just seeing pictures of strangers with expressions of rejection.
WTF, right? I know. But it’s not a neurological mistake; your brain is actually functioning like it’s supposed to.
(Check out this study for more details about the similarities between emotional and physical pain)
So what can we do about rejection if our brains are hard-wired to feel it so intensely? Experience it.
Here are three reasons why we need to get rejected:
1. Your brain is catching up
A long time ago, those intense feelings we experience when we are rejected helped us stay alive because being a part of a group meant survival.
Our bodies caught onto that and developed signals to say DANGER, WILL ROBINSON whenever we experienced social rejection. The reaction we feel when we are snubbed used to warn us to stop acting weird and fall in line with our prehistoric buds.
Hunter-gatherer groups are called “immediate return” societies because they exist…