I had nobody to talk to about what I was going through. So I called my father up, my dad, who was really not a religious man said, Tim, if you're hurting this bad, maybe you should go to church.

I said, church, why would I want to go to church? Why would God do this to me? I'm mad at God.

This is Tim Culsary. Tim is telling me about the worst day of his life. A day that tested his faith and one that as you'll hear still feels like an open wound.

Well, just crush me. I was in such shock and I thought, I gotta get out of here. I need to go walk and be by my stuff.

A lot of time has passed since the awful day that changed Tim's life forever. But as Tim and I chatted, it was clear that the pain he felt that fateful day was still very fresh in his mind.

You go through shock first, what just happened, and then you're wondering why. And then I was just, oh my God, the whole time for so long.

So what was the event that caused such awful and such long-lasting pain for decades? Tim got rejected.

As you'll soon hear in some historic detail, Tim suffered one of the most incredible, protracted, and over-the-top rejections I'd ever heard of.

But even though Tim's story of rejection is probably more extreme than anything you or I have experienced, I bet you can still relate to the hurt he's describing.

Which raises some questions, why does rejection feel so awful? And what strategies can we use to blunt the sharp emotional pain that it brings?

Our minds are constantly telling us what to do to be happy. But what if our minds are wrong? What if our minds are lying to us, leading us away from what will really make us happy?

The good news is that understanding the science of mind can point us all back in the right direction. You're listening to the Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Sanders.

When I began planning this episode about the science of rejection, I'd never actually heard of Tim Colceri, or his story.

And when I finally did hear his tragic tale, I honestly couldn't quite believe it.

Tim had already endured a pretty dynamic and adventure-filled life, even before the epic rejection that changed his path forever.

I went in the Marines on my 18th birthday, went to Vietnam, spent 13 months in Denang, and got out of my 20th birthday. And then two months later, I was at Roalded College.

And after about my senior year, one of my good friends turned pro and golf and wanted me to patty form on the tour. And I turned pro about a year later, I played for about three years.

And then I thought, what am I going to do with myself? Ended up in Miami waiting tables, and then I got on as an airline flight attendant. And I actually have been to Guammer's Marine, a flight attendant, and a stand-up comedian.

I don't think anybody can say that.

Lots of people have their hearts broken, trying to make it as a stand-up comedian or a professional golfer. But not Tim. That wasn't where his anguish came from.

He also wasn't beaten down as a low-paid waiter or a sleep-deprived flight attendant. Tim's real tale of what was started when he embarked on a new career path.

On a whim, he decided to join a friend for an acting class.

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