Day 17- Dealing with Criticism

You decide to go to the famous Louvre museum in Paris. You walk in casually expecting it to be like any other trip to a museum, but from the moment you observe the art pieces, you are captivated; the art pulls you into a world of wonder, mystery and intrigue, even the very walls seem to be a masterpiece. However, as you continue your adventure, a particularly famous piece catches your eyes, you gravitate toward it. There before you stands Leonardo Da Vinci's most valuable painting; the Mona Lisa. You marvel at it as you suddenly realize that this painting is one of the most famous paintings in the entire world, it's so intriguing, so intricate, yet so.... overrated.

Okay, role playing time is over. I chose the Mona Lisa as the art piece in this scenario since its fame is unrivaled. It is an amazing piece, surely, but the Mona Lisa can help me explain something very interesting that both you and her have in common; critics.

You are basically an art piece in God's exhibit, and everyday you have people all around you who speculate and criticize your every move that's why today I wanted to write about dealing with criticism.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of people all over the world go to the Louvre museum and look at the Mona Lisa. If she could talk I'm sure her tale would be more fascinating than anyone could ever imagine, but let's just say for our purpose that you asked her about what people have said about her, she might respond like this; "They say that I am amazing, I am a masterpiece, and I'm worth more than any other painting." or she might reply "They say I'm strange, that they don't understand what my painter was trying to portray, that my nose is too long or my neck is too short"
All in all, this painting being the most famous is equally the most criticized.

In life, we also face criticism of perhaps a similar kind but it's not what people say that matters so much as how we deal with it.

So what does the Mona Lisa do? I think that this is interesting, because no matter what people say about her, whether good or bad, kind or unkind, civil or impolite, she just smiles.
She doesn't cry about it, or quarrel about it, she doesn't hit the person or ask Leonardo Da Vinci why he painted her that way. All she does is continue being herself.

You may say 'But the Mona Lisa is a painting, of course she'll react that way, she doesn't have feelings like I have!"

You're right, you do have feelings, I understand, but not everyone will take that into consideration. So how do you deal with those feelings?

Firstly, Don't get offended.
Ecclesiastics 7:21 reminds us; "Do not pay attention to everything people say"
People say lots of things and if you let it get to you, you will just end up hurting yourself so don't get offended.

Secondly, learn from it if you can.
Proverbs 26: 11 says that a fool does the same foolish things over and over again.

Sometimes criticism can help us grow. It can be a form of correction.
When you were younger (or maybe even now) if your mother or father were to tell you to keep a good posture, you would have done it, right? And in the end you would have looked more confident and also your spine would be aligned avoiding back pains.
Another example can be seen in medicine, if a doctor insults a medical student for not doing a procedure properly, the student may at first feel upset about it  but all in all they know that a persons' life is in their hands and they will fix the problem and graduate as a better doctor.
Same with you, for example let's say someone tells you 'Your work is untidy.' Then that's something you can work on, try to make your work more tidy or if someone were to tell you 'You're looking fat', listen to what they said and if you agree that you're overweight, then do what you need to to get in shape because a lot of health problems can occur if you're overweight. 
Criticism can teach you something worthwhile if you'l let it and you will end up being an even better person.

Thirdly, let it go.
Forgive them, pray about it if you need to and move on. Move on as swiftly as possible because in life, we waste too much time thinking about what other people did or said to us when they're not even thinking about us at all.

Criticism can do one of two things. It can either make you a better person or it can make you a bitter person.

If you yourself find yourself in a position where you have to critique another person, or if you're in a job that requires it, try to follow these rules:
T-Is it true?
H- is it Helpful?
I-Is it Inspiring?
N- Is is necessary?
K- Is it Kind?

You may say, 'But I can't always be kind, sometimes brute force is necessary!' 
You may be right but you should try to be kind most of the time, you never know what the other person is going through.

So next time you're tempted to get sad and down due to criticism, just like the Mona Lisa; remember your worth and just smile.