I am blogging everyday (or nearly everyday) on The Daily Stoic.

“When someone points out a legitimate flaw in your belief or in your actions, they’re not criticizing you. They’re presenting a better alternative.”

This is a good line to keep in mind. The example for this I have is that I recently talked about a topic at a town hall. I made some incorrect comments. Or at least some comments that were nitpicked and while I was speaking in general terms the critique was accurate. It was a bit of a gray area. Or so I thought. Upon re-evaluation I came to accept that I screwed up. It wasn’t with out anger and rage at being called out though. Eventually I came to terms with the fact that I had screwed up and the best way forward was to accept it and move on.

Criticism can be tricky. It’s valued from people we respect and admire. It’s not so valued from people we have a problem with or tend to hand out misinformed criticism. Criticism should be respected though because it gives us to re-evaluate our self and find that alternative and better us.