Using Negativity as Motivation

The road we journey on called life, is not a straight shot. There will be twists, turns, and bumps in the road. In life, we will always come across challenges. However, we must not let those challenges cause us to become discouraged and stop us from fulfilling our true purpose. You may have heard the phrase, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade." If you never fully understood what this phrase meant, it means you can make a good situation out of nothing. Similar to when we may face hardship, we can recognize that the challenges we experience can ultimately be transformed into something greater. At times, it can be really easy to become discouraged and feel like giving up is the only option, especially when setbacks seem to keep piling up and the future looks bleak. However, within my life journey, I learned from others that the negativity we may experience, alongside the built-up energy of discouragement, can be used as motivation. Using this energy as motivation, we can push harder for our dreams and goals and see that the many roadblocks we have faced can be used to motivate us to achieve success.

Over the past couple of months, it has been my mission and goal to obtain a digital marketing internship for the summer after my Sophomore year. During this time, I had applied to endless positions. Unfortunately, out of the large volume of applications I sent, I only heard back from about five of them, who had rejected me. During this period, I was very discouraged and had lost the desire to find an internship. My hope was gone. I already began picturing my summer of myself working my previous job at Wawa, a convenience store. Although I was in a headspace where my hope was lost, I knew that this wasn't my final destination. I remembered the story of Michael Jordan, where he didn't cut his high school basketball team. Or Steve Harvey, who became homeless and was sleeping in his car for three years. To see where these people are today, you wouldn't even fathom that they struggled before they shined. I decided that instead of moping and being upset because I was constantly being told no, I would use this energy to motivate myself for a yes. From that day forward, I was determined to find an internship, and although 'no' was a recurring word for me, I wouldn't let it stop me from reaching my goals. Eventually, I found an internship as a Campus Engagement Intern, that allowed me to apply and develop my digital marketing skills. I was ecstatic and so thankful that I didn't give up.

It's very easy to become discouraged and to let rejections cause you to lose hope. However, you become unstoppable when you turn the negative energy you received into the motivation that will push you to obtain your goals. What therein lies in the negative energy is the transformative power of resilience—the ability to harness the negative energy of rejection and transmute it into the fuel that propels you forward toward your aspirations. When confronted with setbacks, it's not about avoiding the sting of disappointment but embracing it as a catalyst for growth and determination. By reframing rejection as an opportunity for self-improvement and learning, you empower yourself to rise above adversity and emerge stronger than before. In this light, each rejection becomes not a barrier but a stepping stone on the journey to realizing your dreams. Through this perspective shift, one becomes truly unstoppable, fueled not by the absence of obstacles, but by the relentless pursuit of one's passions and aspirations, undeterred by the bumps along the way.