How to Stay on the Path Regardless of Criticism

The Body Ecology Diet (BED) Column

......with Donna Gates

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Thursday, October 4th, 2012:

How to Stay on the Path Regardless of Criticism!

Have you ever committed to a massive change and been met with criticism from your peers, your friends or your family?

Whether this change involves an adjustment in diet, an earlier bedtime, or eliminating toxic habits from your life—sometimes those around us will challenge what we think, what we believe, and our choices.

Juggling outside opinions with our own can be tricky, especially when we are sensitive to what others think or when outside opinions come from those that we love.

While we cannot control others or their words, we can control our own thoughts.

When you decide to pursue and reveal a better you, staying focused will bring results.

Getting swept away by criticisms or negative feedback may scatter your efforts.

Two Tips To Keeping On Your Path of Transformation:

1. When someone challenges your commitment, do not take it personally.

More often than not, what a person says or does is a reflection of what is going on inside that individual.

For example, if you decide to not eat gluten, your friends may ask you, “How is that possible? Don’t you miss it?”

They may call gluten-free a trend.

Or half-jokingly tempt you with your favorite gluten-filled food.

All too often we are met with criticism when we make unconventional choices. This is especially true when it comes to food. Many of us have an emotional attachment to food smells, flavors and textures. Refusing gluten can mean refusing one of our most beloved pastimes: eating.

Unfortunately, you may find that others’ attachment to certain foods may lead them to unsupportive words or behaviors.

Keep this in mind the next time someone challenges you or your choices. Resist feeling feel hurt, judged or criticized. Just by changing this one perspective, we can shift into a higher place of love and understanding.

2. If a challenge comes to as a genuine inquiry, this is an opportunity to relate to one another and exchange ideas.

As a community, we all have something to share and something to learn.
Instead of matching criticism or negative feedback with the same, we can choose to communicate with love.

This can mean getting vulnerable and asking questions.

When it comes to food, it may mean explaining why you value your health or your mental freedom. Or it could mean asking why another person values what you are seeking to change.

When a question is sincere, there is no right or wrong answer. There is only discovery.

No matter where any of us are on the path of well-being and health, we can take time to listen to others and reflect back to them their unique goals and dreams. When we do this, we cannot help but shine!