Making comments on others is an inherent property of human beings.
Some of the comments will be harsh and other soft and constructive, depending on the background of the commentator.
We can not escape criticisms from others.
When someone criticizes, we invariably get offended and feel a sense of inferiority complex.
It’s quite normal with everyone.
The motive of the criticism may be to help us or to hurt us.
Every action or creative work is subjected to criticism.
The criticism may be positive or negative to encourage or discourage us.
We should try to find out the inner meaning of the criticism instead of fearing it.
Tolerance to criticism is little bit difficult, but we have to take it positively for our benefit.
Invite criticism to improve ourselves.
Some people make it a habit to always criticize others.
They are the hecklers who are intensely critical.
The criticism may be harsh, open, soft or with logic.
It may be right or wrong or somewhere in between.
The best way to swallow the criticisms is to ask the one who criticized, many questions for which if he or she give the logical answers, the new can accept the criticism as positive, if not reject it.
I had an experience as many other scientists, when a scientific paper was sent for the first time to publish in an international journal.
The remarks of the two referees were communicated to me along with my original article with full of markings – corrections.
The referees wanted to know many aspects of the experimental methods, data collection and interpretation for inclusion and revision of the paper.
The comments ran about 2 typed pages.
I felt little bit shaky in the beginning and after discussing with my senior friends, I tried to answer each clarification with logical answers and sent the paper to the editor of the journal.
It was published.
I was very happy to get my first scientific paper published in an international journal.
Sometimes criticism improves our outlook, hence it is needed in life.
If my paper was not up to the mark, I would have got a reply from the editor saying that it was not fit for publication.
The editor would have given the reasons for not publishing it also.
Those reasons may help us to improve.
Offering criticism is an art, only few experienced people know.
Appreciation is liked by everyone, so appreciate the good of an action or creative work first before expressing the criticism.
This is one way of encouraging people to accept the criticism.
If we feel that the criticism is right, then we have to agree with it and thank the critic for providing us with the information.
The main job of the critic is to transform someone, not to hurt him.
‘Defend yourself when you’re accused’ is a wrong policy.
It leads to confrontation, arguments, fight and what not?
Avoiding criticism is to ran away or try to dodge – this results in humiliation and loss of self-esteem.
Therefore, it would be better to face the critic skillfully to win by avoiding a battle.
Fearing criticism creates many other discomforts.
Therefore, we need to practice the methods to tackle it in a non destructive manner.
A wrong criticism creates anger in our minds.
Controlling the anger is the first step we have to follow.
The next step is to understand how far the criticism is wrong?
To find out that there is a need to have a dialog with the critic and express our point of view objectively with an acknowledgement you might be wrong.
Coping with criticism leads sadness, madness or gladness.
The path we take depends on each individual.
However, it would be better to follow the suggestions given above in this article for making criticisms more constructive.