Shalom Online

Wherever we reach, whatever we achieve, it is sure that we will be questioned, appreciated and more often criticised. Most of us willingly or unwillingly answer the questions; feel wonderful when appreciated but just a few of us accept positively the criticism.

Criticism though sounds harsh, there is always a hidden benefit in it. One of the messages which I read recently said; “Be happy if someone criticizes you, because they are the ones who are always noticing you.” Even though we tend to react in a bad way when others criticize us, some of us react, shout and criticize back. A few of us just ignore and a few keep quiet but only a handful of us take the criticism positively, evaluate and try using it for our benefit.

Most of us criticize in our day to day life. We criticize and comment on people, events, happenings etc. Only a few of us criticize positively. The rest tend to criticize negatively.

As a college student I have faced criticism, heard them and even criticized others. This process of criticism seems to be a positive feedback. Still there involves a lot of anger and sadness in the person who is criticized. Most of us face criticism at home, workplace or the place we study and we must always remember to accept this in positive attitude and open heart.  

Some steps where we can try to convert criticism to positive energy is; Learn to listen. Most of us fail to listen fully and come into wrong conclusions. Do not react harshly; though the comment is bad accept it with a smile. Evaluate your critic. Most of the time some people find fancy in criticizing others. Ignore such people. But if the comment is coming from a genuine person accept it. Learn to accept yourself as you are. All of us are not perfect, yet we are unique. Let us learn to appreciate our specialities and accept others’ criticism and change for good. Evaluate your own strengths and weaknesses. This will give you strength to stay confident when someone is wrongly criticizing you. Let us remember that the learning process in life is endless, it is only when others tell us we come to know where we lag. Let us learn to criticize others wisely. Let us not criticize to demotivate someone; rather our criticism should be constructive. Always thank your critic. For his interest in you can be made genuine through this kind gesture. Finally seek God, when you are criticized. When we bear criticism, it is difficult to ask God for his assistance, because most of us fail to love the critic. God’s presence will help us to change our drawbacks into strength and make us successful.