criticism

Progress takes work; while it’s good to stop and smell the flowers, and ‘very Tao’ to be ‘in the flow‘ and working with ease, work often feels like, y’know work.

If you’re crafting anything of worth – anything of value to others and yourself – then you’re likely to come up against criticism. Sometimes it’s from the others you serve; often it’s from yourself.

“If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead anywhere.”

Frank A. Clark

Perhaps it isn’t criticism. Maybe how we interpret feedback takes a critique and transforms it into criticism, and then we nurse the pain.

Criticism or praise, it’s all just feedback; how we perceive and interpret makes it either supportive or destructive. Abuse is something different, and not to be taken in the same way (not to be taken at all).

If other people offer you feedback, it is a gift – they’ve made an effort to be involved. Avoid adding labels to the guidance and consider it for what it is, merely feedback – like banging your head on a low ceiling, or tasting dragonfruit for the first time. Make your own decisions.

Self-criticism can get nasty, quickly. As you have compassion for others, have compassion for yourself. If you feel or think something, act upon it – either by making a change or by letting the feeling or thought go. It is merely feedback; once heard, it has done its job.

Image credit: SPDP