Learning (-) the way of life

I sometimes wonder what is it about criticism that scares us all. Why do we feel scared to say something just for the fear of being ridiculed? Wasn’t the person who kept on pestering the teacher with questions considered a snob during school days? As the school days pass and you enter the so called matured forms of schooling, the snob is replaced by the words - highly inquisitive’. I remember reading a friend’s blog where he mentioned that the basic problem that’s hindering the growth of mankind is ‘Failure to accept responsibility’. Somehow I connected to the statement immediately. People are scared to accept responsibility and that is what is leading to ever deteriorating standards of living. I have myself never escaped this situation, but when I realized that standing up for what you did/thought, is half the battle won, I changed my approach. Never be scared of critics, for they only help you make yourself better. Their criticism should be seen as an opportunity to help your individual growth. At the same time remember never to become the critic and take up the role of demoralizing the inquisitive lot. You may ask them to hunt for answers to their queries but never ever ridicule a question. Remember there are never stupid questions only stupid people. In the IT world you will often come across Gurus – as the intimidated call them. You will have a Java guru who can solve your EJB, servlet problems in a second or a UNIX guru who can fix up your UNIX based system in a jiffy. I have myself met many of them but I refuse to call them gurus for the simple reason that these brilliant people are learners all their life and that is what makes them better than the others. I am sure if probed deeper, all of them would confide their scare of criticism which they overcame when they decided to better themselves. So the next time you are scared to open your mouth, I suggest you think about your overall growth than the momentary ridicule , the fear would automatically give way to the eagerness of knowing/learning something new. Welcome to the world of learners!!!!