Rejection

Stop me if you've heard this one before. Boy meets girl, boy likes girl, girl doesn't feel the same way, boy cries like a little girl, boy grabs an automatic rifle, climbs a clock tower & begins a shooting spree, resulting in the deaths of countless men & women, 3 dogs & a cat. If you excuse the semi-obvious humor & the absurd metaphor, this is actually quite a common thing, minus the crying & the shooting spree.
The theme is unrequited affection. It's been quite a common theme since the spawn of civilization, how one meets an individual that they find interesting, charming & all that associated mess, they begin to feel something, building their hopes up, before those same hopes come crashing down by the sudden confession & realization that the individual in question doesn't have the same feelings in return. One might find some comfort in the fact that it happens both ways, from the boy-to-the-girl & vice verse, and that it's not restricted in one direction, or cross gender.
Now, the reason I bring this up is because experiencing these things is one thing, but to watch it happen to someone else is like having your heart ripped out & stuck into a blender on high speed. The person in question is an individual who I've known for quite sometime. Despite the numerous qualities that this person has, many have failed to look past the outer appearance, which is hardly the stuff that magazine covers are made of. In fact, this has been a rather constant, yet tiring cycle for this person.
Speaking from experience as well as from observation, it's always a real bitch to go through that. The constant questioning of your actions, repeated thoughts of how you could've capitalized on an opportunity, the insistant sense of self-consciousness, an overwhelming degree of inadequacy. It's enough to shatter one's confidence.
There have been times when I find myself wondering what will happen? Will any of us meet that one we're suppose to be with?? Will we find that special someone who makes us weak at the knees, who makes us feel special & beautiful, who allows us to believe that we can do anything? Will we have the foresight to recognize that person? Will that person be faithful & true? Will it last? There are 101 questions that most, if not all, couldn't even begin to understand, let alone attempt to answer.
But I take comfort in one thought. Thomas Edison, one of the forefather's of modern technology, was an individual of amazing ingenuity, but beyond that, inhuman tenacity. Which was quite remarkable considering that for every sucessful patent invention he had, there were atleast 3 that were not sucessful. Yet, he never referred to them as failures. In fact, when asked about these 'failures", he simply claimed that "they were discoveries of how these inventions DIDN'T work".
The logic is quite unmistakeable. When solving any problem, it is too time-consuming to just look for the answer. Instead, the logical approach would be to eliminate the incorrect deductions & simply proceed to verify the rest. Technical aspects aside, it stands to reason that this applies to more than just experimental mechanical engineering and anything along those lines. It is also a simple approach to life.
Despite how painful rejection is, and I speak from experience on that, the application of this approach is quite logical, as logical as matters of the heart can be expected. When you meet any individual, and find them to be lacking, it proceeds to give you some idea as to what qualities you find disliking. Through trial and error, constant probing or whatever you want to call it, you learn more about yourself by meeting many others. And through which, by eliminating those things that don't work for you, you find what does &, god willing, find someone.
I'm not a self-help guru. I'm not a doctor. I'm just a guy with a theory. I can only hope that this might lead some poor bastard in the right direction. As for all those who have been lucky to find someone truly worthy of their time & affection, although I do not begrudge you of your fortune, I must admit to being envious. Perhaps there might be hope for us. Perhaps.....