Criticism ..a positive influence

Nothing beats a mind open to criticism, whether it be constructive or not, with an ear to listen or a teachable heart, to be able to decipher what is useful enough to take in and what should be discarded.  

No matter how scathing a criticism may be, we need to try to see if we can pick out any iota of truth in it, irrespective of what quarters it emanates from, rather than have a negatively critical mindset that is not willing to analyze information that may be painful to swallow and take corrections when applicable. 

We must understand that criticism is a part of life and is indeed one of the avenues by which we can learn and therefore be afforded the opportunity to avoid some pitfalls in life that may be as a result of a fault in our character or other issues we may not be able to easily perceive pertaining to our thinking, attitude or actions, if not for the perception of someone else on the outside.

We learn on a daily basis from examples we are opportune to hear about from others or come across from various media, experiences we and others face, and the criticisms from others, to but mention a few avenues that can help us improve ourselves and the knowledge we have about unfavorable situations in life, and how we can adjust accordingly.

In fact, a person who is unwilling to learn is one that is not ready to move ahead in life and as such, we can ill-afford to be bitter about and fail to pick out the important things in the information we come across from time to time, that are critical about us and how we live our lives.

So from now on, let's pray for a teachable Spirit and always keep an open mind about the not so palatable things people say about us and try to see criticism, no matter how painful it may be when being meeted out to us, as a possible avenue for change or an opportunity to prove to the aggressor that we will not be flustered by falsehood.

Shalom