Hi there iantingtw,

It’s simple, It’s cliché, It’s:
REJECTION IS PROTECTION ( I know some people may include Life/God’s protection, feel free).
Rejection hurts for all of us whether it be with another person or for a job. You know when you hear the phrase; “Boy I sure dodged that bullet.” Or hear stories about individuals who found a better job or met a much healthier individual to share their life with after rejection, well why can’t that happen to you as well?
As others have mentioned, when you begin or get back to loving yourself, then you certainly understand the meaning behind this phrase and want only the best for yourself and stop the seeking of validation from others and understand that sometimes the things you thought you wanted the most were not the best for you.
As for your personality, you stated that you are an introvert. BE PROUD OF IT. There is nothing wrong with being an introvert. I myself am an introvert and enjoy every moment of it. When out in a crowd, I can be a social butterfly, but of course the downside is I “absorb” so much of everyone else’s energy and emotions that it becomes draining on me and I need rest. Us introverts are great because why everyone else is off talking talking talking in the rooms, we are able to recharge and slowly capture the entire room’s attention with our “quiet” yet strong presence/discussion. Here’s a little confidence booster, those introverted individuals are the ones everyone talks about after the party, gathering, etc. wanting to know more about.
As for a way that you can improve your personality and behavior around others would be to have a strong interest in something and share it with others when out and about in public. Have you traveled around the US or the world? Well if that’s the case, don’t be scared to share your stories with others and even if you have never traveled and are interested in travel, my advice to you would be to READ. Read as much as you can about different countries and one day when you’re talking to someone who has visited Lichtenstein, you can mention or even go into detail about a certain historical monument or fact such as that there is no border control between them and Switzerland (See how easy to incorporate it into the conversation).
Or how about technology? Everyone uses technology in some shape/form. People are always looking to upgrade their pieces of technology such as laptops and smartphones. There are so many people out there that own smartphones/laptops and not know all the complete functions and aspects of their technological devices (including I). Just imagine having that confidence to educate others about all the differences among Apple, Android/Google, Windows when it comes to smartphones and laptops and the history of each company.
Don’t see it as trying to learn so much info. in one sitting whether you’re at school or work, just do a little bit of light reading while on your lunch break/ free time, etc. When you get home, if there’s no necessary work needed to be done and you don’t have anyone to hang out with, just go online and learn/ read and educate yourself whether it be travel, technology, etc. so that when you are out you can apply everything that you learned about yourself and the subjects and show yourself off to others.
I hope I was able to serve some assistance you. Best of luck.