As defined by Merriam-Webster, “the transmission of evaluative or corrective information about an action, event, or process to the original or controlling source, also: the information so transmitted.”
Feedback is a necessary component of growth, and therein resides the rub…growth can be painful or uncomfortable. A seed pushing forth beyond the soil, rising towards the sun, cares not for the speed at which it travels, but rather it continues to reach beyond what it could be capable of. Cue the theme song from the second movie in the franchise that is FROZEN, “Into the Unknown!” Does anyone else hear Idina Menzel’s voice singing now? You’re welcome, but I digress.
Feedback exists whether we appreciate it or not. The fact of the matter is this, we live as human beings within societies. Each of us plays a role within that community with a particular job, role within a home, or a family. The thing is we garner feedback as we tread through this life based upon the encounters we have with others.
If I had listened to all the feedback I received over my four decades here on Earth, I would surmise that I am too much of this or not enough for any person or area in life. The long and short of it is, unless you can magically transform into a type of seasoning that everyone utilizes on their food, take the Trader Joe’s “everything but the bagel” seasoning. It’s just not going to work. “Life’s too short to sweat the small stuff, kid,” my father would constantly say to me while growing up. If I had listened to others, I would have only laughed when I read the condensed version of the feedback on that list.
Feedback can be quite subjective to the owner of the thought itself. Consider the source, which I often found myself saying in my early adulthood. I harkened back to this while I spent twelve years in public education. If one considers the source, the root of an ideology, then perhaps one can utilize their own powers of deductive reasoning or, insert audible gasp, critical thinking skills that are all too often lacking in this current day and age of snapshot glances in time, and pundit professors on the palm ridden land of Tik-Tok university. There I go again, I digress.
If one can make a discernible source-credited reasonable statement regarding feedback for an individual, party, or country, then thankfully, living within a democratic society, they can openly share their critique, nay feedback.
What a gift.
What a blessing.
To say what one thinks.
To criticize.
To provide feedback.
The struggle that lies within discomfort is, in turn, a test, my friends. If you can continue to hold your roots, to continue to grow despite the resistance that the sky throws your way, there is the opportunity to see another day when you will surely bloom and grow. It is always a powerful stronghold to receive the flurries of feedback, opinions, and hate-spewed commentaries and continue to shine regardless.
See the truth behind the gray filled skies.
Light always has the power to pierce the darkness, even a single ray. Seek the light.
Seek humanity.
Fear not the feedback that dwells beneath the surface because if one’s roots are well planted, a weather shifting will not remove the plant.
Feedback is just that, information.
Seek the source, or, as the kids say, ask for receipts. Take courage and be kind, but face the light and continue to grow.
startwithsparkles 