DON’T BE A FOOTBALL OF OTHERS OPINION!

DON’T BE A FOOTBALL OF OTHERS OPINION:

We always bother about others opinion.  This set of other people can vary based on the situation. From friends, classmates, teachers, professors, neighbours, family members, cousins to  peers, bosses, spouses, etc etc and the list would go on. We all are actually afraid of criticism.

Because of this fear – we don’t open up. We refrain from doing the wrong which is fair enough but we refrain from doing the right and constructive too.

Let us take some of the daily examples. Many of us are very well trained bathroom singers but don’t sing in front of others, say in a gathering or among our own peers. Why do we feel shy? In college days, we have do have some credits  allotted for courses which require presentations and interaction with the class? Why are we nervous? Why do we end up getting not so good scores?

We are afraid of criticism. What happens when someone criticises you?

A sudden raise in heart beat followed by fast circulation of blood; the breath paces up and the mind keeps on wiring the thought of criticism continuously creating the negative emotions of anger, defeat, resentment, dejection and we become aggressive.

But When this happens, please do this small activity. Go in front of the mirror and observe the changes happened in you right after someone has criticized you. What happened?  Did you grow shorter? Did your nose grow bigger? Or you got  your ears grown into an elephant’s ears?  What happened exactly? The answer is nothing. Just nothing. All that has happened is  that you’ve got a chance to improve on something which you were not aware of prior to the criticism.

I follow a lot of spiritual leaders and a common message which they give on criticism is “When someone criticizes you, he/she takes away some of your misfortune”. It washes out the sins which we might have committed in the past. Isn’t that a happy news? So my dear friends , don’t fear criticism.

We all know the plight of a football.

 It is supposed to move in the direction in which the player kicks it. It doesn’t have its own control. But are we footballs? Can’t we have a control on our own thoughts? We definitely have something called intellect to decide what could benefit us and that is, learning from criticism. Do not let anyone take control of your emotions just by their words. Do not be a football of others opinion. Be yourself and know your worth. Live to express not to impress.

Now, what about that delicious cake of appreciation which someone gives us? Do we grow horns on our heads? Or do we grow taller or fairer? Mind you, an opinion is not always a genuine one. Some may give you this piece of cake to motivate you while some could even give it to you only to make you overconfident or to flatter you and get something done from you. So, if you fall prey to this flattery, you become a football again.

I hope after knowing these facts we would no more give the remote control of our emotions to others to play around with it. Let us decide to keep moving towards our goals without getting distracted by opinions  of others but using them only to learn and improve our own lives.