So, yesterday someone posted a comment under a post I made almost a year ago about women's rights telling me that I don't know what I'm talking about and I've clearly totally missed the point. I kind of blanked for a second reading it because I was a bit offended looking for the right thing to tell this person.
Then I remembered something my father once told me, "Critics aren't your enemies, they're your suppliers, you can build with the stones they throw at you. I searched online for anything similar to that and found out it was an actual quote, the author of that quote I see don't know.
So I read the comment again, this time a little more carefully, and I realised he actually did have a small point. I rushed through that part of my post and didn't do a good job explaining what I meant. So I know where to be clearer next time. It's really funny how we react to people pointing out where we've gone wrong. Our first reaction is to defend ourselves and tell them how they're wrong and how they misunderstood us, which means that we're trying to prove we're better than them.
But what if they didn't misunderstand anything? What if they saw something that I couldn't see from where I was standing?
Later, my brother called while we were talking about work and he said that his boss constantly corrects him in meetings. He was pretty annoyed and just wants him to be embarrassed. So I told him about the supplier theory. He went quiet and then said he'd give it a try and see things from that perspective.
Not all criticism is helpful l, some people give you stones just because they have stones to throw. But if you can learn who likes to throw stones and who's building something, you'll learn something in the end.
Now I know I need to respond to people's comment about what I say, not in an argument, but just to let them know I see what they're was saying.
I edited an art of that quote using Gemini to give you a better perspective as to what I'm trying to say.