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Judgement Day Blues
A friend recently replied to my post about Judgement. He suggests that a) not everyone can do what everyone else can, and 2) we need judgement in order to find out the truth and rise above where we are. I don’t disagree with either. As he said, “a guy with no legs is not going to be an All Pro Running Back.” Or, if the guy has legs but for some reason doesn’t know he’s not strong or quick enough, he’s not going to get better.
The trick is the line between discouragement and encouragement. I can only assume that point is different for each person. There have been some who have been told that “they suck” perhaps in so many words, and used that as their own motivation to get better. On the other hand, some have heard the same thing, got discouraged, and either gave up or maybe they’re the ones who struggle every day with that voice in their head. One could argue that maybe those people weren’t meant to do whatever they are trying to do. If they don’t have the drive to overcome the criticisms perhaps they should do what does drive them. I don’t know if there are any clear answers to this, and like I have mentioned, it could be different for each person.
In my original post, I was talking about that self-criticism that tends to stifle, because we are afraid of “what if.” It’s one thing to judge oneself objectively in order to improve, it’s another to constantly think, “I am not good enough,” “I can’t do this,” “I’m wasting my time trying,” or whatever that keeps us from even making the effort. Similarly, when one wants to criticize someone else’s work, I think it should be done tactfully and constructively. Anyone can say, “that sucks,” but are you capable of telling them why you think that? If you don’t, you might not really be in a place to tell them what you think.
Posted 2011 10 18 at 8:59 AM
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