I had one client who had an uncontrollable urge to respond to every criticism, comments he faced.

He thought people will take him as coward or weak if he chooses to be quiet and hence in defence, he would participate in the argument aggressively and drive his points across.

He started treating every comment as an 𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 and started defending himself as if he was in a 𝐁𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄 and his life depended on his replies.

He never wanted to lose the arguments even if eventually he felt miserably unhappy with himself.

The moment he walked in to my cabin, I could sense the hues of anger, exhaustion, irritation, frustration etc. building 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 in him.

After listening to him completely, I gave him a thought to ponder upon. I asked him –

“To Imagine walking along the road to home and with each step, collecting stones along the journey.

By the time he reached home, how much discomforting and burdening he would have made his journey by carrying unnecessary stones with him till the end.

That’s what happens when we respond to each and every criticism that comes our way”.

He paused briefly, while introspection his expressions, gestures changed and I noticed he had an 𝐀𝐡𝐚 moment.

The realization dawned upon him, that how responding to each and everything that is happening in life was draining his energy completely.

He also felt that he is actually making fun of himself by proving to these ‘unimportant’ people, in turn wasting lot of his time.

Reacting to these provocations costs enormous amount of mental energy and peace.

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐠𝐨 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲. 

Hence, 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐁𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄 𝐖𝐈𝐒𝐋𝐄𝐘!

What are your thoughts on it?

Ranjitha Raj