Dealing with Criticism

1. 1.       I learnt that not every situation demanded a prompt action, and that sometimes, it was on me to control it. Learning this helped me to control my reaction time, gave me more than a few moments to think, and plan my response accordingly.
2. 2.       I stopped defending myself. It helped to break my ego and accept others’ point-of-view gracefully as doing so was not only an act of futility, but also proved that I had done something wrong. Instead, I began using the feeling of “free spirit”, realized that I’m an adult who lives in the land of the free, and acted like it.
3. 3.       Gave in to ignite the introspective mood. I accepted that nothing is perfect, and I only needed to work a little more to get closer to it. There was a lot to be thankful for, and counting my blessings helped to lift the spirits.
4. 4.      Informed the criticizer that I was aware of the underlying causes, and showed that I cared about improving myself. It helped me gain myself confidence, and brush aside the comments that weren’t given in the right spirit or motive.
5. 5.      Read the feedback about others –authors, artists, actors, public figures, companies- no one was actually free from criticism. At some point or other, each one of them had to deal with unfavorable responses (most of the time in complete public glare). It taught me that no one actually cares, and the best way to deal with any form of criticism was to move forward.

Now, it’s been sometime that I’ve let anyone’s criticism hurt me. Though the journey to achieving complete inner calm is on-the-way, I feel proud of improving myself day-by-day. There’s a lot to be done still, sort jumbled emotions, and so the effort is still on.