DO NOT BE AFRAID OF CRITICISM

The man who achieves things, is not the one who goes to pieces on his first encounter with others’ disapproval .

Shyam won the first prize in a debate. He was bubbling with joy. His joy further multiplied when his friends congratulated him on his brilliant performance. He rushed home to share the happy news with the members of his family.

But Shyam’s mood of buoyancy was suddenly killed next day. 

A college friend, Manohar, told him that some boys were remarking that he did not deserve the prize and that it was an instance of favouritism. On hearing this, all cheerfulness vanished, and a wave of anger gripped him. He looked like a shrivelled plant in summer. The reason why Shyam felt so unhappy by the criticism of his companions is not far to seek. Most of us expect one and all to admire our performance almost to the extent of adultation. When this does not happen, it hurts us.

Shyam, however, does not realise that no one escapes critcism altogether. History provides numerous examples of great men whose achievements were laughed to scorn in the beginning. George Washington, the liberator of America, was denounced as a hypocrite and impostor. A newspaper cartoon depicted him on a guillotine, the big knife ready to cut off his head. Crowds jeered at him and hissed as he rode through the streets. Edward Jenner is another great man who was ridiculed. Yet he is the man to whom people of the world are now grateful for the boon of the smallpox vaccination. But when Jenner was engaged in the discovery of the vaccination, even doctors, not to speak of ordinary people, scoffed at him.

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