Critique versus Criticism

For your consideration…..

We have all been on both the giving and receiving sides of critiquing and criticism. We all know how it feels. We all know the difference.

Some of you may know that I am in training to be an angelic life coach. So I am particularly sensitive to these behaviors. My heart hurts when someone tells me they feel judged or that they feel people look down on them. My heart hurts when I hear people say they feel belittled. It is amazing how judgmental we are of ourselves and others.

Let’s take a step back for a moment and look at criticism for what it is. It is judgement. It involves the giver and the receiver. The giver must have the same attitudes or behaviors they are judging to recognize them. When they are delivering the criticism they are criticizing themselves whether they know it or not. We need to remember that.

The receiver has a choice. We always have a choice to receive the criticism or not. Remember, we don’t let anything into our Core Essence Self that does not feel “true”. Is what this person saying about me true? Does it feel good? If not, don’t let it in. Just let it bounce right back off. That is the goal.

Critiquing is different. It is coaching. Critiquing comes from a win/win place. It adds value. It embodies HOPE. It comes from a professional and kind place. critiquing involves offering our best self and knowledge for the benefit of someone else fully understanding that everyone benefits when we are successful. Both the giver and receiver can be winners if they choose. Each has a choice. We always have a choice.

We are all growing. So critiquing is good. We recognize it because it feels productive and makes us feel good about ourselves. It feels positive. It feels right. We welcome it.

Criticism is the opposite. It makes us feel judged. It feels negative and we have the right to make the choice to reject it. We don’t need to feel bad about it. We just need notice and let it go. That is the HOPE.

Bit by bit, piece by piece, hope by hope action steps anyone can take…..

-Meditate for as long as you can. Notice the real perfect you.

-Are we having fun yet? Grab that book, go to the movie, swim, go for a walk or drive. What will make you smile? Go for it.

-Drink lots of water.

-Work on that vision board.

What made me smile yesterday…..

-A great lunch with Alex.

-A nice visit with my neighbors. Note to self….make more time to do that.

-Jordan, long time no see. It feels great when she is back in the house.

-We decided to take advantage of the power outage and go out to eat. (I know, it doesn’t take much encouragement.) But the best part was we ran into friends, Janet and Kevin. Good fun.

Love, Blessings and Gratitude,

Chris