Getting rejected sucks. It doesn’t matter what you’re rejected by: a person, a school, an internship or a job. There’s always a bit of sting and heartache that comes with that refusal. However, you don’t have to hold on to those feelings and let them bring you down. Sometimes, you have to make the conscious choice to let them go. That means you have to reject your own rejection, at least in your heart. Here are some ways you can go about rejecting a rejection in a healthy manner.

Take a deep breath

Take a deep breath. Let it out slowly. Repeat this a few times. Don’t let the feelings keep hold of you. Visualize yourself pushing out those feelings and replacing them with calmer, happier ones. Control your breathing to help cope with feeling rejected. If you do that, you just might be able to reject the effect the rejection had on you.

Hide the letter or email

There is a saying that goes, “Out of sight, out of mind.” You could take that as a piece of advice. Reject your rejection by preventing it from constantly reminding you of what you’ve missed out on. If you got your rejection as a letter, hide it at the bottom of a drawer. If the rejection is an email, put it in its own little file so you don’t have to look at it if you don’t want to. Reject it by keeping it far away from your everyday life.

Take it out on a doll

Sometimes, if the feelings resurface, the best way to reject the rejection is to let out your frustration. It’s unwise to directly vent your frustration onto the person, company or university that rejected you, so you must use a proxy instead. A doll or picture can be enough to help you visualize what rejected you. Once you have that, tear it apart or throw it away. Do whatever it takes to vent your frustration without causing damage to your surroundings, of course.

Scream into a pillow

Rejections can drum up lots of feelings. These can range from sadness to anger to disappointment. Most of these feelings can be expressed in the same way: screaming. Since you don’t want to annoy your roommates or neighbors, put your face in a pillow and let it all out in one primal scream. It might just drain all those negative emotions and let you move on from your rejection.

Imagine the doors that will open for you

Maybe you were rejected from your dream grad school. Imagine that it happened for a reason and that you actually belong somewhere else. Or maybe you didn’t get that awesome summer internship. But now, you’ll have more time to volunteer, earn money or build another skill set this summer. Even if one door slams in your face, there are plenty of other doors waiting to be opened. It might help to daydream about all of the other amazing opportunities that exist elsewhere.

Everyone gets rejected. Don’t worry if you do, too. Hopefully, with these tips, you’ll be able to move past this universal experience and not let your rejection keep hold of you.