Christian Living

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Larry Lilly's Letter Thursday October 27, 2005

The history of great souls contains a number of qualities possessed by all, be they men, women, warriors or ordinary people who are walking the path of life and suddenly as if out of nowhere, greatness is thrust upon them. I won't list all of the common traits, but the one I am listing is essential in that you in your quest for greatness learn to pursue your chosen path in spite of ten thousand devils engaging in this warfare against you.

Dale Carnegie put succinctly in his book, 'How To Win Friends And Influence People.'

"Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain - and most fools do."

Successful people have to make and constantly re-affirm the commitment to avoid being associated with those poverty stricken souls who waste the bulk of their productive years in the ‘Three ‘C’s of failure. Criticism, Condemnation, and Complaining are words, attitudes of life that mark you as a person who hasn’t been taught or as one who willfully rejects wisdom, that successful people do not like being around critics and they most certainly do no like being the brunt of criticism, put downs and whining.

The hard truth is simple: You are one who consistently stands around the coffee pot, water cooler, of telephone playing the Three 'C's game or you are on the firing line making things happen, or at least a part of the solution rather than the problem itself.

It has been observed and stated that the majority of criticism is directed toward men or women who are perceived to above the criticizer in rank or social standing. President Truman understood and taught this truth with his famous advice to other would be leaders when he said: "If you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen." If you lead, you will face every day of your life, the bombardment of the Three 'C's. The level of intensity will depend on how high up the pecking order you rise.

Most complaining, criticizing or even condemnation is stating, in your opinion, just what is wrong with a person, organization or place. Most people hearing your diatribe agree with your assessment, but like you, do not have a clue as to just what to do to fix the wrong.

For many years whenever I saw certain people coming my way, I would sulk because I knew they were bringing a problem/complaint to me. I learned to listen patiently and when they had correctly stated their version of one of the Three ‘C’s, I would ask for their solution. In most cases they did not have one, so I would begin to sulk at this point. Over the years I have saved countless hours of fruitless sulking by implementing this simple method.

While no one enjoys being the brunt of criticism, it is better to be criticized than to be the one doing the criticizing, complaining or condemning. Jesus majors in solutions.

Winners persist in spite of criticism, condemnation or complaining.

Larry Lilly Copyright © 2005 Use with credit.

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