Rejection is often named as one of the causes of food addictions, along with allergies, low self-esteem and depression.

Often when I have felt rejection, it was because I didn’t feel like I belonged. Even when nobody said or did anything to make me feel rejected, I felt like I was on the outside looking in.

Emotions have a way of ganging up on you and, when they do, some of us stuff down our feelings with food. They don’t stay down long so you keep stuffing until the trigger feelings pass.

And when they do pass, as they always do, you not only can’t remember what you ate, you can’t even remember that you ate. That right there should be your wake-up call.

I have often sought comfort from my friends in the refrigerator. Comfort is the operative word here. When you are in a situation where you cannot find comfort, or ease your stress or get relief from emotional tension, there can be a feeling of rejection.

Rejection is feeling like you don’t belong, like you are not wanted or needed, like you are being excluded, like you are not welcome.

When you are not able to eat or go to the bathroom when your body needs to, or honor a family commitment that is important to you, you feel uncomfortable. The next time you feel these physical stressors, see if you don’t feel rejected.

The truth is, sometimes we reject ourselves. Rejection is the opposite of acceptance. If we do not feel accepted, we feel rejected.

When I decided to work on the rejection thing a few years ago, I took a job as an inbound telemarketer and remained in the position for four years. Anybody can tell me “No” now, and I couldn’t care less.

It isn’t about them. They have a right to say no. Not everyone wants what we have to offer. That’s life.

Your life is about you and you have the  starring role in it. You don’t get an understudy. It’s all about you.

You are the headliner. It is your reality and everybody else is just a guest. If they don’t like it, they can leave and you will still be you.

I remember the days when I would buy a Snickers bar and spend five minutes in a checkout line explaining to the cashier that it wasn’t for me, like it was any of her business anyway.

Why would I think that I needed her approval to eat a darned candy bar? Like Georgia Bird (Queen Latifah) says in “The Last Holiday”, what world was I living in?

This world has a lot of disagreeable things if you’re looking for someone or something to blame for your predicament. There is no blame to be had. Blame is a thing of the past. March your beautiful self back to the present.

You know I’m going to say it again. Hurry back to your heart. Go within, as they say.You’ll be safe there. Love always makes you feel safe.

You are perfection. No creator I have ever known had anything but unconditional love for his, her, or its creation. We’re the Little Brains that like to judge things and put all the pieces neatly together.

Well, life doesn’t always fit like that because the pieces are changing all the time. You are a work in progress, and you always will be.

If you’re fat now, you don’t need to stay fat. What you do need to do is  accept some of that Divine Love that is flowing in your heart and coax it out and let it start spilling all over your life.

Accept yourself and just carry on. When I figure out how to do it, I’m going to share some really great health information and products that helped me with bouts of depression and stress, and getting my eating under control.

For now, practice this on the next person who makes a disparaging remark or criticizes you:  Say “I reject that”. And just keep saying it until they shut up.

It works better than trying to defend yourself against the remark and  you will feel pretty darn good in the process.