Day 15~

I feel like this pup a lot. I get into stuff and make a mess. I mean well, lol.

Proverbs 12:1 ~ Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof is brutish.

Reproof ~ To criticize a fault.
Brutish ~ Lacking sensibility

It has taken time but I am learning not to take criticism from others to heart. People that criticize you only have a few different motives for doing so.....

1) They love you and are willing to wound you to better and help you.
2) They are trying to cover their own faults by pointing out your faults.
3) They are uncaring, narcissistic, and judgemental.

1) If you are wounding me truthfully because you spot a fault in me then that's a good thing unless I take myself so seriously that I cannot do self-analysis. After careful self-analysis, I can either change the behavior or not change the behavior. Either way, the person will still love me. I don't want to be brutish or insensitive to criticism.

2) If you are just trying to push me down in order to lift yourself up then why should I care about your criticism? Shouldn't you be working on you before working on me?

3) If you are uncaring and mean spirited then why should I care about your criticism? It is just a means to manipulate me to get me to do what you want me to do whether it is good for me or not.

So, today I am open-minded to those who love me and want to see me do better. The others are just toxic.

Generally, it is best to only listen to those doing better in an area of life than you are doing.

I am open-minded and willing to learn today because I do not know everything and have been wrong many times. At 49, I know only that there is a God and I am not God