Rejection can hurt, especially when we take feedback, reactivity, and other unpleasant behavior from others personally. Anyone that puts their gifts out for the world to judge will at one time or another feel rejection. When you create something new, people judge and reject what they don’t understand. It doesn’t have to trip you up because you can choose differently. If you find yourself feeling rejected in any area of your life, then this Alignment Process movie Amadeus (Milos Forman, 1982) may bring some relief.
Amadeus is a story of rivalry and jealousy between two brilliant musicians: Antonio Salieri and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Throughout the movie we see how both Salieri and Mozart feel rejected. Even though both are uniquely brilliant, each one suffers in the face of judgment and rejection.
If you’re noticing a pattern of rejection in your life remember these three tips on how to deal with it.
1) Don’t Take Any Feedback As Truth
In the Sundance Channel’s Iconoclast, Dr. Maya Angelou sits down with David Chappelle and provides some valuable wisdom on rejection. She says, “One of the things I’ve learned, or am even still in the process of learning, is ‘don’t pick it up and don’t lay it down.’ When someone says, ‘You’re the best, you’re the greatest, you’re the most wonderful, you’re the finest artist of the time, and blah, blah, blah. You say ‘Ah.’ If you pick that up, you also have to pick it up when they say, ‘You’re nothing, you’ve lost it, you used to be it, what happened?’ So I don’t pick it up, I don’t lay it down.”
2) Let Go of Your Stories
At times we all make up stories to rationalize why people don’t fully accept us on our terms. Even great leaders of peace, like Gandhi get tripped up by the stories they tell themselves. In 1924, Gandhi was unable to get the Indian National Congress to adopt his “absolute prerequisite” for members to conduct daily spinning with the charkha, or spinning wheel. He believed it was the essential instrument of self-reliance and freedom. When this provision wasn’t adopted without revision, Gandhi said he was, “defeated and humbled”. He blames everyone from educated India, split parties, the British, the government of India and even God for why daily spinning was rejected. As he writes,
“Hindu-Muslim unity I made a mission of my life. I worked for it in South Africa, I toiled for it here, I did penance of it, but God was not satisfied, God did not want me to take any credit for the world. So I have now washed my hands. I am helpless. I have exhausted all my effort”1
Gandhi sounds like Salieri in Amadeus when upon hearing Mozart’s improvisation of his music. He says,
“All I wanted was to sing to God. He gave me that longing… and then made me mute. Why? Tell me that. If He didn’t want me to praise him with music, why implant the desire? Like a lust in my body! And then deny me the talent?”
3) Stay Humble – It’s Just Information
Humility is the opposite side of the coin of rejection. When you can stay humble, you’re able to be aware that all reactions are just information. Through the eyes of humility it’s easier to discern what’s worthy information and what’s just rubbish. Humility protects us from rejection in ways we don’t always understand. Sometimes it can help to remember Dr. Wayne Dyer’s “Rule Number 6: Don’t Take Yourself So goddamn seriously.”
Watch how Mozart takes the Emperor’s feedback on his latest opera.
Both Mozart and Salieri would have found more peace of mind if they were able to stay humble regarding their musical gifts.
The Top 8 Energetic Benefits From Watching Amadeus AP session
- Release the habit of taking rejection personally.
- Less focus on comparison to others.
- Energizing your ability to stay humble in the face of criticism.
- The ability to keep your heart open in the face of judgment.
- An acceptance of your abilities as good enough.
- An ability to let go of your mental stories.
- Accept that you are already lovable and don’t need to seek approval from others.
- The ability to persevere in the face of adversity.
The Steps To Energetically Benefit from This AP Session:
- If you haven’t done the Intention Session, then do this first and only once. Think of it as downloading an App on your smartphone. Once completed then you’re ready to benefit from any of our AP movies/TV shows.
- Rent and watch the entire movie: Amadeus
- If you notice relief in the subsequent days, please pass this blog to someone you know who might appreciate some assistance. If you’re so inspired to like us on our Facebook page or Google+ – we welcome the love!
1 Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and His Struggle With India, by Joseph Lelyveld, pg. 198 Alfred A. Knopf, New York 2011
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