Who Will Open the Door?

Who Will Open the Door?

Unlike the fast-paced nature of our time, waiting days to take a step—or not taking that step at all—is an experience many of us share. On social media, where we present our best selves, it has also become a trend to reveal that things are not always as perfect as they seem. Content creators, trying to capture more attention, have started to share not only their successes but also their struggles and difficult moments, as if to show that they are just like us. One of these posts inspired me to both question my own life and write this piece. In the video, the person listed attempts they made without fearing rejection and eventually succeeded. But what made it so interesting that some of those attempts resulted in positive outcomes?

Because for most of us, the real issue is not the result, but the possibility of rejection. One of the small illusions our brain creates to help us survive is focusing more on negative outcomes, which causes the joy of success to be overshadowed by the anxiety of failure. Rejection is not just an outcome in our minds; it is a powerful emotion associated with inadequacy, exclusion, and worthlessness. That is why people often give up not because they fail, but because they do not want to experience the possibility of rejection. In psychology, this is explained as avoidance behavior. A person avoids taking risks, applying, speaking up, or making a move in order to escape negative emotions. In the short term, this may seem like a safe choice. However, in the long term, it prevents individuals from testing their potential and gaining new experiences. In trying to protect themselves from rejection, they also deprive themselves of the possibility of acceptance.

Yet, every rejection is not as personal as we think. Sometimes the timing is not right, sometimes expectations differ, and sometimes that door was never meant for us. Trying is not only about changing the outcome, but also about discovering new things about ourselves. It is important to remember that everything we do not try is already a rejection. Every small step transforms a “definite no” into a “maybe,” however small. and life often changes through the surprises that emerge from those small “maybes.”