Wanting to be with a guy who doesn’t feel the same sucks, sure, but it’s nowhere near the worst thing that can happen to you. While you have every right to be upset about unrequited love, it’s helpful to put it in perspective and think of things that are way worse:
- Getting fired. This is a whole other type of rejection, but one that will actually affect you for an extended period of time. It’s much worse to lose a job because it’s probably something you’ve put a lot of time and energy into and affects the rest of your life, too, given that you’ve also got no money now.
- Losing your passion. The day you lose the determination to go after what you’re passionate about is the day you stop living. When you’re rejected by a guy, chances are you didn’t lose anything, but when you no longer have passion, you’ve lost everything.
- Dating a douchebag. The guy that rejected you could potentially turn out to be one half of a disaster of a relationship. If he didn’t see how truly wonderful you are, then dating him would’ve been a mistake anyway.
- Failing at something you really tried for. If you work really hard for something and actually go for gold, you could still end up at the same starting point because no one recognized your talent. Now that’s something to wallow about for a little while.
- Having your heart broken. This is undoubtedly worse than being rejected because if your heart has broken, chances are you’ve put a lot more energy and emotion into the guy. If he rejects you right up front, you don’t have to worry about a broken heart later.
- Regret. When you go for something you want and don’t get it, at least you can say you took a chance. It’d be a lot worse to wake up in 20 years still wondering whether or not that cute guy from the supermarket would’ve ended up being your husband had you just worked up the courage to talk to him.
- Being accepted for anything other than who you are. Sure, rejection isn’t great, but it’s a whole lot better than being loved for something you’re not. If you could choose between rejection based on who you truly are and acceptance based on who you aren’t, you’d choose rejection every time.
- Uncertainty. When you get rejected, you have a clear cut answer to your question. When you don’t give yourself the chance to ask, however, you’ll never know. And not knowing is a lot worse, even if knowing comes with a side of rejection.
- Being the one doing the rejecting. When you’re the one who has to turn down someone’s advances, it can be worse. You have to deal with hurting someone’s feelings and shutting down their ideas for the two of you and that can cause a certain amount of emotional pain all on its own.
