Many people tend to take criticisms in a negative way. They usually either become defensive or hate the person who criticises them. I am appreciative to people who criticise me provided their criticisms are constructive and valid.
Criticisms from a wise person are invaluable because you can become a better person if you change. It is always a thankless job to criticise people , designs, policies, or anything because the chance of people taking them negatively is higher. They fail to realise a poor design can actually cause inconvenience, hidden health hazards, unnecessary stress to the users, etc. Therefore, if something is not working right, it is better for people to give constructive criticism rather than to suffer in silence. We have to make this world full of sufferings, injustices, poor people, toxins found in food, drinks and the air that ultimately trigger many chronic, terminal and autoimmune diseases , a better place to live in.
I benefitted from my siblings’ criticism of my English language skills when I was younger. I did not indulge in self pity or quarrel with them. If you whine or sigh about everything you are wasting your time doing frivolous things. Moreover, "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never break me".
I just did what I ought to do so that I could improve my atrocious English. During the school holidays, I started to read widely. For words I did not understand I would copy them on a small note book and look them up in the dictionary. Frankly, I did not enjoy reading at the beginning. However, I soon realized when a person is equipped with the right knowledge; you will be one of the wealthiest people on earth. Have you heard of the phrase, “wealth of knowledge”? Subsequently, from a loser in argument, I was able to win in every argument due to the newly acquired knowledge. When my siblings called me “stupid”, I would retort “it takes one fool to recognise another”. My siblings began to call me the walking dictionary and encyclopedia. Hence, you can actually turn a negative situation around if you have the right mindset. When I empower my mind with knowledge, I would know whether the professionals in whatever field say is true.
Everything is either right or wrong. The result will attest to a person’s decision. I assessed my siblings’ criticism, there was a merit. I took the positive step in the right direction and I was enriched with abundance knowledge.
I won’t say what you want to hear, I only say what you need to hear. Similarly, we have to eat what our body needs and not what we want/ like to eat. If you do not poison your immunity system with medicines, wrong food/ drink intake, you basically won’t have any health problem. Exercise can’t heal a poisoned body.
Why wait, do it now.
Procrastination is a lazy person’s way to avoid doing a task.
Excerpt from my manuscript