Conquering Criticism
During the closing seconds of an American football game, the referee had to make a very difficult, game-deciding call. His decision resulted in one team winning and the other facing the bitter sting of a loss. Furious fans from the losing team ridiculed and threatened the ref for days and weeks. In time he experienced panic attacks and even considered suicide. Doctors diagnosed his condition as post-traumatic stress disorder.
better than myself
Charles complained to his friend about some lower back pain. He was seeking a sympathetic ear, but his friend gave him an honest assessment. “Your back isn’t your problem,” he pointed out. “It’s your stomach. Your stomach is so big it’s pulling on your back.”
criticism
One Sunday morning a pastor got up in the pulpit and apologized for the Band-Aid on his face. He said, “I was thinking about my sermon while shaving, and I cut my face.” Afterward he found a note in a collection plate, “Next time, think about your face and cut the sermon.” That critique of the pastor’s sermon may have…
let’s get critical
In The Last Lecture, Professor Randy Pausch described a particularly bad day when his hardnosed football coach yelled at him and made him do push-ups for messing up some moves. Afterward, an assistant coach helped Randy put his bad practice in perspective. “Coach Graham worked you pretty hard, didn’t he?” the coach asked. Then he continued, “That’s a good thing. When…
verbal strikes
I grew up under the weight of a verbally abusive grandfather. To this day, years after his death, I still struggle with ramifications of things he said to me and how I responded.
During my teenage years, I took my grandfather’s endless criticism with a grain of salt and made every effort to respond to him in a gentle Christlike…
in the arena
Theodore Roosevelt got things done. He was the driving force behind the completion of the ambitious Panama Canal project, won the Nobel Peace Prize, and served as Assistant Secretary of the US Navy. Oh, and he also became the 26th president of the United States (jump-starting his country’s conservation movement).
Like anyone who accomplishes great things, Teddy Roosevelt had his…
ambushed
Nell and Jim were hiking in a park when a mountain lion ambushed them, attacking Jim. His wife Nell tried stabbing the animal with a pen. When that didn’t work, she beat the lion with a log until it backed off completely!
Most of us will never have to fight off a wild beast, but we may need to defend…
