everyone’s a critic

our little monday night group just read about fasting, specifically, fasting from criticism. the reading was simple, basic and left us feeling quite inspired. so, after gaining a techincal definition of criticism from my dollar tree dictionary and debating on a time to start and finish, we were ready to fast.

we decided to fast for two days. i did not struggle much on the first day, and infact, i was provided with some insights on how i go about my normal day. i realized that i am extremely critical of people i do not know. critical of how people drive, what they are wearing, how loud/annoying my classmates are, how slow the person in line ahead of me is, how rude the lady behind cash register is, how absent-minded my professors are…..and so. what does being critical of these people have to benefit me? nothing that i can think of, but i did realize how it is hurting me. this criticalness is keeping me from interacting with those around me and preventing me from being involved in my environment. it seems that this critical nature transforms me into an “outsider” of my own community. since moving to maryland i have struggled with “feeling at home”. i wonder if this critical nature is partly to blame.

after day one i was extremely grateful that we did this activity. but then came day 2. if day one was like today - a sunny, warm, spring day, then day 2 was like a cold, rainy, cloudy, gloomy, i dont want to get out of bed day.

i wont spend much time writing about day 2, b/c i’d rather erase it from memory. overall, i struggled greatly with fasting from criticism. it seemed as if every word out of my mouth was critical. but i did realize that most of my verbal criticism was rooted in wanting to complain. so, from day 2 i learned that maybe i complain too much, but also that if i ever fast from criticism again then it be for only one day.

Tags: Life