I do not agree with the idea that we are just animals living off of instincts.

If this were true, we wouldn't even have a forum about supporting each other cope with mental illness. Compassion, Empathy and Support are not ingrained as an animal trait. Believing are we are is animals completely negates all of the things humans have done as a people.

You DO have to love yourself before you can love someone else.

Rejection hurts. Everytime. It's how you deal with it that makes the difference. You can let it crush you and keep you down, OR, you can take it as a teaching moment and spend your efforts at bettering yourself.

A lot of the time when we get rejected it is because there is something in the other person that rejects us and we just don't jive. It is no fault in your character. People are different and not everyone likes or thinks or feels the same way.