Layers Of Praise

"Sandwich every bit of criticism between two thick layers of praise." - Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics

This is a great suggestion, especially for someone like me. I've never dealt with criticism well. This might be the best course of action for me to take.

It has always been very difficult for me to accept criticism from others, even if it's meant as constructive criticism. I guess it's because I'm my own harshest critic. I'm very hard on myself and when I hear someone else criticizing me I become very defensive. I tend to feel the urge to convince them of why I was right in doing whatever it was that brought on the criticism in the first place. This behavior on my part tends to cause more hard feelings and confrontations can become heated.

I was very sensitive as a child. When I was being corrected by teachers or my parents I reacted in anger or I would lapse into a slight depression. I never shared my feelings with anyone; I would just put more pressure on myself to be perfect. Well, as we all know, perfection cannot be achieved by human beings. So I was fighting a losing battle.

I've gotten a lot better when it comes to being on the receiving end of criticism. It's because I've learned to take the pressure off of myself and stop expecting perfection. I'm content these days. I do my best, putting one foot in front of the other, doing the next right thing, and praying for God to help me through my days. I am blessed to have lots of praise from my friends so it is not difficult to "sandwich" the criticism between the praise. I like that suggestion from Ms. Ash. I think I'll do just that.