Well. The post got quite a reaction at one particular forum.
I won't go into detail, but as you can see from what I imply in the subject line, my suggestion was not well-received by someone. Others piled on.
The
power of choice.
While figuring how I wanted to respond to my commenter, I contacted a blogger with a bit more experience and visibility than me. The most important thing he said to me is that I have a choice whether to respond, or not, period. He ran through his thought process to make that choice. Then we got into the best way to go if I chose to respond.
I often forget I have a choice. This brought down my level of defensiveness significantly. I let go of feeling like I needed to have that one perfect response. Suddenly other possibilities occurred to me.
What did I do?
In this case, I chose to thank the person for pointing out a perspective I would have otherwise overlooked. I also added this to the post, though I do not plan to do this with every post.
"A few caveats: You have to use your own discernment as to how this will be received. If it is not something you would comfortably say, don't. And of course I'm not suggesting that you say this if you don't mean it."
I'm still learning. I thank my critic for the lessons I learned this week.
Your turn: What is your best advice for handling your critics? Just reply to this
post to share with me.
