Criticism alone is not enough in dealing with issues you are confronted with. Development of intellectuality where focus on debate and criticism is emphasized teaches little about responsibility towards the issues that challenge us.
At the global level, criticism encourages citizens to be rebellious without taking responsible action against causes such as poverty or the environment. At the national level, debate without end can subliminally subjugate a country’s people to feel powerless against corruption or drugs. At the personal level, voicing one’s criticism can mislead one to think that I have had my say against what has made me unhappy and therefore I don’t need to do anything more about it. In the long run, one is left with an increasing feeling of anxiety without knowing its origins.
In our present world of increasing complexities there are also increasing possibilities towards solutions. Criticism not only will not help us find solutions, it will trip us over if not outright put a wall up in between us and those possible solutions. I love the internet because it has shown me how endless solutions can be found. It has taught me how to ask questions, and when my questions can not deliver me the answers I know that I have asked the wrong questions.
So I would like to encourage you to pause if you become aware of yourself criticizing something. Reframe your mind, re-ask your questions. Don’t just use the internet, ask even the unlikely stranger who may be passing you by just to give you that original answer. Finally, don’t just ask questions. If you have felt compelled to criticize, to ask about something, understand that something deep inside has impelled you to take responsible action for it. Clear up these little things that bother you one by one as attentive as you would if you were weeding your garden and you will never have to carry the weight of anxiety in your life.
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