New Blog -Book Reviews

Here's my new blog, to anyone who missed my stuff. Hope you like it.

Winter Is Coming: Reading

Nope not the Game of Thrones books, but let's revisit the classics. Which of these have your read? Looking to gift someone a present? You can't go wrong with a classic! I began reading classic by the time I was in 4th grade, I loved Shakespeare (go figure). I loved going to my school library and devouring an entire book in a  week, feeding my imagination. Now there are video games, but the knowledge, awakening that happens from reading is lacking in video games, and movies... so pick up a book this winter!

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - as much as Mark Twain is loved, as a girl, growing up in India, I couldn't identify much with Tom Sawyer, however I did dream of being a "lady" in the arms of Darcy in the old days when men were gentlemen and women were elegant... It's a must read for all young girls, whether they are a tomboy or girlie, it puts life into perspective.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle - Sherlock Holmes is always an amazing adventure and mystery. He teaches us to think in new ways. It's amazing what we can learn from his methods of deduction! Heck when I first read a Sherlock Holmes book, I had no idea what deduction meant, but it was so well written one could easily deduce what it meant! ;-)

Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Grimms' Fairy Tales by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm - my mother first made me read the Grimm's Fairy Tales, and well they weren't fairy tales, more like horror stories. Still highly recommended, interesting, intriguing!

Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde - this is an awesome witty story, much like a comedy of errors. It had me laughing.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
The Divine Comedy by Dante
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman

Moby Dick; Or, The Whale by Herman Melville - When reading it for some reason, I took the whale's side. It was always about the whale. I really had no attachment to anyone, except the whale and all the other whale friends. It's interesting what goes through a child's mind when they read books for the first time.

Ulysses by James Joyce
Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie
The Republic by Plato
Dracula by Bram Stoker
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens- One of my favorite classics this one, I don't know why I was so drawn into it. Maybe I was there, but Dickens works his magic through a political plot, to the most... Ok i can't say but its one heck of a book.

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Dubliners by James Joyce- A spinet of life in Ireland. It's so cultural, and a different type of adventure, living in other people's shoes.

Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë  - the most amazing romantic- tragedy ever. I saw the play after reading the book, and it made me cry as students acted it out.

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Emma by Jane Austen
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad- my most favorite book of all time. I have so many copies of it. I love this story for the darkness it so truly captures.

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
The Awakening, and Selected Short Stories by Kate Chopin

Complete Original Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant by Guy de Maupassant - I recently began reading the Horla and oh boy! Maupassant had a way with horror, so creepy, dark and macabre!

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

The Works of Edgar Allan Poe by Edgar Allan Poe - With all the rave about the show the Following, one must pick up some Poe. The Raven, The tell-tale heart... More darkness and Macabre!

The Iliad by Homer
A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll - Read this book and find out why Wonderland is really creepy and scary. It's like Stephen King's IT if not scarier. I had nightmares as a child.
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare - if that much Shakespeare is an overdose, my favorites are a Winter's Tale, Merchant of Venice, Hamlet, Macbeth (as a kid this gave me nightmares), The Tempest, As You Know It, A Twelfth Night or What you Will and of course the popular ones such as Romeo and Juliet, Midsummer Night's Dream, and Othello...

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain
The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

The Call of the Wild by Jack London - this was another childhood favorite of mine. If you love dogs, the wilds, read this! Also great winter reading.

Pygmalion by Bernard Shaw
Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery

The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle - of all the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Homles' stories this was always my favorite because it involved dogs. It's a great mystery and a great ending, and a lovely trip to the dreary countryside in the bogs, and other lovely geography found only in England!

The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
Aesop's Fables; a new translation by Aesop
Thus Spoke Zarathustra. by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie
The Odyssey by Homer
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
To Kill A Mocking Bird by Harper Lee
The Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank
Animal Farm by George Orwell

The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien- with the second installment of the movie based on this book coming out, it would be great to revisit the story. Mostly because how did they drag out a simple story into 4 movies?! It's a classic to read over and over again, and now we can watch it.

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Slaughter House - Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
Where the Red Ferns Grow by Wilson Rawls
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt
White Fang by Jack London
The Three Musketeers by Alexander Dumas
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry
The Time Machine by HG Wells
The Litttle Matchgirl by Hans Christian Anderson
The Mill on the Floss by George Elliot

Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy - another period story of women in England, women who weren't nobility, and how they lived. It was a very important book in my life, and Tess is one of my favorite books, characters, and its so well written.
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell - Another classic, and favorite. A book about cruelty to animals, however also teaches us about loving, living and treating animals. Although fantastical it was a wonderful book to read as a child.

Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
Heidi by Johanna Spyri
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
The Hunchback of Notre- Dame by Victor Hugo
The Art of War by Sun Tzu
Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler
Relativity: The Special and General Theory by Albert Einstein
Interpretation of Dreams by Sigmund Freud
Paradise Lost by John Milton
The Bhagavad Gita
The I Ching
Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
Medea by Euripides
The Mahabharata
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
The Overcoat by Nikolai Gogol
Selected Short Stories by Anton Chekhov

A Song of Ice and Fire: A Storm of Swords - Chapters 69 - End (Spoiler alert!)

After much analysis, and reflection... I am Sansa. I thought life, this world would be this amazing place, what a bunch of bollocks. In other aspects I am like Arya, but it takes us a while to wake up from childhood, and break free from fairy tales. It can go the other way too, one might think life is harsh and rough all the time, and when they reach a moment of tenderness they are as much in shock as a person who thought the world was flowers and butterflies. Right?

Kids grew up faster back in the day, mortality was shorter for humans then too. Now a days we keep are kids protected from the big bad world, longer than we should. The darkness, the winter, the evil, has ways of seeping in however. I learnt young, to be wary of men; what I didn't learn was how to play the game, the game of thrones. I never liked politics, but it is important to be aware of, kind of like the game "Risk", where we take over countries and such.

It is true, maybe there was some sort of entitlement with the whole middle-class-college-educated-generations. We were told by our parents and society: "get a degree and you'll get a good job", at least that's the way of success since the 70s. Then the colleges began handing out Master Degrees like hot cakes in every field whatsoever. Then catastrophe, economic downfall, war, and loss of jobs occurs. Which gives birth to the "occupy wall-street" movement by the "99%". We forgot we have to work hard to get the job, and keep working harder still after that. What will the Joffreys, Sansas, Margearys, Briennes, Cersei,s Jaimes of the world DO! They have to be like Tywin and write letters, or be like Tyrion and deal with WHATEVER LIFE hands you.You were Sansa one day, and the next day you are a fallen Sansa. Or one day you are Tyrion, and then the next- Tyrion the traitor.

So much to learn from this book, so much. An article I read recently, reflected the racism in the series. Dany the beautiful white haired, white skinned lady, who tames a bunch of brown skinned barbarians. The story has been done before in history- British and the Indians... both the Native Americans and Indians from India. Same story different age! ;-)

This was an amazing book, the epitome of the series although there is a book 4 and 5, and a rumored book 6 and 7! For once I shall not give you any spoilers although I stumbled across many on the internet while reading, however I will say, before going the easy route and watching the show. Read the books, there's more IN it.

Breathe!


 

A Song of Ice and Fire: A Storm of Swords - Chapters 56 - 68 (Spoiler alert!)

If you thought the Red Wedding was big... well especially for all those that didn't read the book... Mr. Martin has more in store for us.

Remember what I said in my previous blog post about Melisandre saying that if Joffrey is killed while still safe behind walls, with all his guards present, then truly the Lord of Light is working. However Joffrey lives and thus Davos argues. Well Joffrey falls drops down dead at his wedding, after humiliating Tyrion over and over again. I say, he got what was coming for him, or you can think poor little rich blonde boy. Eh... I beg to differ, he deserved it for no lesson would set him right. In fact after the way he insulted Tywin I would hope it was Tywin who slipped him the poison, but we still don't know who poisoned Tyrion.

Sadly though Cersei is first to blame Tyrion and he is awaiting a trial and for sure execution. The trial goes horribly, because there is no witness For Tyrion, everyone is against him, because the ever so beloved king is dead. They see that Joff beating Sansa was righteous, etc. Come on people this was a King who was a boy, he didn't even FIGHT. The only blood he ever shed was disciplining slaps from his uncle Tyrion. I am glad to say he suffered, and choked and died. How could Cersei spoil a kid so much, ugh. Worst. Mother. Ever! So we shall see about Tyrion's fate. I hope he kills his sister, and gets vengeance.

However this was waaaay bigger than the red wedding... Joffrey is the sickest #@$%#er ever and he finally gets what is rightfully his! Such a relief, catharctic moment. Oh and while everyone is fussing about Joffrey dying, Sansa slips away... but more on her later. Joffrey is dead! Joffrey is Dead! The wickedest King there ever was, the enemy of all of us here in the North is DEAD! Goodness! No one Mourns the Wicked! Ok that was from Wicked - Broadway musical... check it out if you haven't! He's DEAD!

Jaime gets to King's Landing, Brienne is taken in custody cause Loras Tyrell still blames her for Renly's death. Jaime visits Cersei who is crying at the sept for Joffrey and they do it right there. She kind of is weirded out by his hand, or lack their of, and she estranges herself from him. Keeps him at bay. So I hope he got her pregnant just then cause he did EVERYTHING for her, and this is how she repays him, especially sleeping around with other men. Tywin wishes Cersei to wed a Tyrell or a Martell, doesn't matter. Tywin wnats Jaime to renounce the Knighthood, marry and take up Casterly Rock. However, Jaime has had it, he wants to marry Cersei and rule openly, but instead he just says he will never give up knight hood and Tywin renounces Jaime. What a family I tell you. Jaime asks the kingsgaurd after Tyrions really bad trial if they really think Tyrion is guilty, also if they did swear to protect the king, how the heck did he die? So they all give excuses. In the end I feel Jaime feels the "imp" is innocent, and convinces Loras that Brienne is innocent. Whoopdido.

I forgot what Dany was upto... Oh right! She is still trying to en-capture cities, and people are still trying to kill her. Oh and she find out that the two blokes she trusted the most Mormont, and the other dude Barristan Selmy who called himself Arstan, were actually traitors. Mormont fought for Robert once upon a time, and Selmy was a knight for Raegar and then bent the knee to Robert when the House of Targaryen fell. So she's so angry at them, she tells them she never wants to see them again. Also she finds out the Mormont had been sending Varys stories about her, until he fell for her, and then he stopped. She is super pissed.


 Arya is stuck with Sandor Clegane, although the last chapter made you think she fled for him. As the red wedding took place, war sprung about. In the chaos Arya found out 1- her mother and brother were dead 2- she wanted to see them 3- perfect opportunity to run. So she ran. Clegane hit her up-top her head, she passed out. They escaped safely. She took to being a nobody. Then Clegane wanted to take her to the Eyrie which would be good cause... wait for it.... Sansa was being taken there by Petyr! When she escaped after Joff's wedding (ofcourse she was sad to 1-be wed to Tyrion, and 2-that her mother and brother were killed, but glad to escape to WHAT?), Dantos took her to Baelish who then killed Dantos, and they were off to the Vale, so that Petyr could marry Lyssa, the nutty lady! That's the only drawback Lyssa Tully now Aryn is nuts! Arya has it in her head to head to Jon. Jon is infected and delirious about life, and is made Commander in Chief... oops ... Lord Commander of the Black Crows by the maester. In the mean time Sam, Gilly and the baby cross the wall in a secret underground tunnel. They bump into Meera, Jojen, Hodor, Bran and Summer! Fun times. They cross to the North side of the wall, and who knows ... Sam goes back to Gilly?

That's all folks!

A Song of Ice and Fire: A Storm of Swords - Chapters 31- 55 (Spoiler alert!)

Amazon has paired up with Audible to give us these synced audiobooks- to ebooks! How cool right? I mostly listen to the audiobook though, and the narration is great. Because I hear the story (unabridged), its like seeing it in my mind, while I drive, get ready, cook, clean, pack, exercise. I am living this. So closely entwined am I, that the loss of my great Aunt, was in time with the loss of Robb and Catelyn Stark. The Red Wedding, they call it.

What happened was that Edmure was to marry Rosalin Frey, this would help make amends with the Freys. Since Robb marrying Jane Westerling had spurned the Freys so. Anyway Tywinn on his end won the war with letters as he had promised and told Tyrion. He wrote to the Freys, won them onto his side, and then when the wedding and bedding was on way, everyone else was killed. Bastards. (To get over this Samantha Durante - yes the author I recently interviewed- sent me this link which basically has steps to get over the Red Wedding. It helped - buzzfeed FTW). Anyway I'm glad by reading the books, I won't be shocked and surprised like other people who were astounded by the Red Wedding. Ha! Also I will know what happens in Season 4 and 5 and 6! Read!


Honestly what more is there to say? I feel drained of all my energy thinking of this great loss. What's more... Tyrion's POV, Joffrey the King is acting like HE'd done it. Bragging and all proud. He tells Tywinn, "you write to Frey and tell him I want Robb's head! I will present it to Sansa, and make her kiss it..." What a dou@#$bag! Tyrion will not have any of this, so Tywinn sends Joff to bed, literally! Joff retaliates saying Tywinn is a coward or something to that effect. Cersei apologizes on behalf of her son, and Tywinn sends her to bed too! Anyway Tyrion is set to a new task of entertaining the guests, and keeping them from killing each other before Joffrey's wedding. I hope Joffrey gets his, soon. I'd love to give him my own taste of justice, oh yes. Those Lannisters.

Before Robb died he signed a will sort of thing that decreed his heir... I think it's Jon Snow... but we shall see... oh the cliffhangers!

Arya has her own journey, and finally she flees from Sander Clegane who had taken her from Beric Dondarion. So now she's a free bird, except her brother and her mother are dead. Dead and gone, and to her knowledge Bran and Rickon are dead too. Sansa married off to Tyrion, so it leaves Jon Snow in the North. Should she go there. Ofcourse Arya, and no one else, has a clue that Bran is on his way North, and is holed up some place safe with Meera, Jojen, Hodor and Summer. Bran is like Frodo, they are taking the wolf dreams north to the three-eyed crow. By now Bran can slip between Summer and himself really quickly. He sees Jon craven out of killing an old man, cause them wildings have crossed the wall. So Yigrette (who Jon has been bedding ALOT), does the honors, saying "you know nothing Jon Snow". She has a Irish accent, according to the narrator. Jon Snow rides off to Castle Black, or one of those castles by the wall. He meets up with his Black Brothers, and they trust him after he explains to them why he killed his buddy, and on whose instructions. Now they are preparing for the wildings attack. See the wildings strategically attacked the wall at many places, thus spreading the Crows thin (Crows- Black Brothers- Night's Watch). So this will be a cluster fudge.

Davos receives a letter from the Night's Watch, and guess what he learns! Oh the wildings are crossing south. Blimey, he says this is too troubling, and puts the letter away. Yeah lets ignore the important stuff since we live on an island. In the mean time Stannis discusses with Melisadnre, his wife, and Davos ... Davos is now his hand... whether or not to sacrifice the Robert Baratheon's Bastard (the one who was at Storm's end and Davos saw his taken by the shadow etc.) to give life to a Dragon. Kind of like how Dany had done. Previously Melisandre had done a spell to have the Greyjoy King killed, Robb Stark Killed, and Joffrey Killed. So far two are dead. Joffrey remains. Melisandre says - imagine if Joffrey is killed while he is safely behind his walls, with guards... that would truly mean the lord of light is at work. I hope she does it!

Dany is winning city after city... yes she bought an army of Eunochs and then had them kill their masters. Then she has been conquering all.

Here are some good maps:

Essos (Essos on Left) and Westeros

Westeros

Jaime gets away from Harrenhal after striking a deal with Bolton. Bolton and Frey (REMEMBER) ganged up on the Starks, so they aren't good. Jaime leaves without Brienne, leaving her to the Brave Companions, however he goes back for her, and they travel to King's Landing together. Which is decent of him, he only does this, because 1- he has lost a hand 2- he's been having bad dreams 3- in his dreams only Brienne remains to protect him.

Oh Sam! I almost forgot Sam! He was caught up in the whole take over by the wights at the camp. Then he got to Caster's Castle, and there there was a mess, and the old Bear Mormont was killed. He forgave Jorah before he died. Then Sam took Gilli, and was heading to the wall, when they were surrounded by wights again, and a man on a Stag or some sort of Deer creature rescues them. My guess or prediction is that he is Benjen Stark or a OH RIGHT... ELK!

So that's the big news so far!
Another 25 or so chapters to go!

Breathe

Can You Take Criticism? Learn How to Handle it Gracefully...

This blog is a repost of an article I read and fell in love with. I just had to share it with my readers!

25 Reasons to Embrace Criticism

--by Lori Deschene


“Criticism is something you can easily avoid by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.” ~Aristotle

At the end of the day, when I feel completely exhausted, oftentimes it has nothing to do with all the things I’ve done.

It’s not a consequence of juggling multiple responsibilities and projects. It’s not my body’s way of punishing me for becoming a late-life jogger after a period of cardiovascular laziness. It’s not even about getting too little sleep.

When I’m exhausted, you can be sure I’ve bent over backwards trying to win everyone’s approval. I’ve obsessed over what people think of me, I’ve assigned speculative and usually inaccurate meanings to feedback I’ve received, and I’ve lost myself in negative thoughts about criticism and its merit.

I work at minimizing this type of behavior—and I’ve had success for the most part—but admittedly it’s not easy.

I remember back in college, taking a summer acting class, when I actually made the people around me uncomfortable with my defensiveness. This one time, the teacher was giving me feedback after a scene in front of the whole class. She couldn’t get through a single sentence without me offering some type of argument.

After a couple minutes of verbal sparring, one of my peers actually said, “Stop talking. You’re embarrassing yourself.”

Looking back, I cut myself a little slack. You’re vulnerable in the spotlight and the student’s reaction was kind of harsh. But I know I needed to hear it. Because I was desperately afraid of being judged, I took everything, from everyone as condemnation.

I realize criticism doesn’t always come gently from someone legitimately trying to help. A lot of the feedback we receive is unsolicited and doesn’t come from teachers—or maybe all of it does.

We can’t control what other people will say to us, whether they’ll approve or form opinions and share them. But we can control how we internalize it, respond to it, and learn from it, and when we release it and move on.

If you’ve been having a hard time dealing with criticism lately, it may help to remember the following:

The Benefits of Criticism:

Personal Growth

1. Looking for seeds of truth in criticism encourages humility. It’s not easy to take an honest look at yourself and your weaknesses, but you can only grow if you’re willing to try.

2. Learning from criticism allows you to improve. Almost every critique gives you a tool to more effectively create the tomorrow you visualize.

3. Criticism opens you up to new perspectives and new ideas you may not have considered. Whenever someone challenges you, they help expand your thinking.

4. Your critics give you an opportunity to practice active listening. This means you resist the urge to analyze in your head, planning your rebuttal, and simply consider what the other person is saying.

5. You have the chance to practice forgiveness when you come up against harsh critics. Most of us carry around stress and frustration that we unintentionally misdirect from time to time.

Emotional Benefits

6. It’s helpful to learn how to sit with the discomfort of an initial emotional reaction instead of immediately acting or retaliating. All too often we want to do something with our feelings—generally not a great idea!

7. Criticism gives you the chance to foster problem solving skills, which isn’t always easy when you’re feeling sensitive, self-critical, or annoyed with your critic.

8. Receiving criticism that hits a sensitive spot helps you explore unresolved issues.Maybe you’re sensitive about your intelligence because you’re holding onto something someone said to you years ago—something you need to release.

9. Interpreting someone else’s feedback is an opportunity for rational thinking—sometimes, despite a negative tone, criticism is incredibly useful.

10. Criticism encourages you to question your instinctive associations and feelings; praise is good, criticism is bad. If we recondition ourselves to see things in less black and white terms, there’s no stop to how far we can go!

Improved Relationships

11. Criticism presents an opportunity to choose peace over conflict. Oftentimes, when criticized our instinct is to fight, creating unnecessary drama. The people around us generally want to help us, not judge us.

12. Fielding criticism well helps you mitigate the need to be right. Nothing closes an open mind like ego—bad for your personal growth, and damaging for relationships.

13. Your critics give you an opportunity to challenge any people-pleasing tendencies.Relationships based on a constant need for approval can be draining for everyone involved. It’s liberating to let people think whatever they want—they’re going to do it anyway.

14. Criticism gives you the chance to teach people how to treat you. If someone delivers it poorly, you can take this opportunity to tell them, “I think you make some valid points, but I would receive them better if you didn’t raise your voice.”

15. Certain pieces of criticism teach you not to sweat the small stuff. In the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t matter that your boyfriend thinks you load the dishwasher “wrong.”

Time Efficiency

16. The more time you spend dwelling about what someone said, the less time you have to do something with it.

17. If you improve how you operate after receiving criticism, this will save time and energy in the future. When you think about from that perspective—criticism as a time saver—it’s hard not to appreciate it!

18. Fostering the ability to let go of your feelings and thoughts about being critiqued can help you let go in other areas of your life. Letting go of worries, regrets, stresses, fears, and even positive feelings helps you root yourself in the present moment. Mindfulness is always the most efficient use of time.

19. Criticism reinforces the power of personal space. Taking 10 minutes to process your emotions, perhaps by writing in a journal, will ensure you respond well. And responding the well the first time prevents one critical comment from dominating your day.

20. In some cases, criticism teaches you how to interact with a person, if they’re negative or hostile, for example. Knowing this can save you a lot of time and stress in the future.

Self Confidence

21. Learning to receive false criticism—feedback that has no constructive value—without losing your confidence is a must if you want to do big things in life. The more attention your work receives, the more criticism you’ll have to field.

22. When someone criticizes you, it shines a light on your own insecurities. If you secretly agree that you’re lazy, you should get to the root of that. Why do you believe that—and what can you do about it?

23. Learning to move forward after criticism, even if you don’t feel incredibly confident, ensures no isolated comment prevents you from seizing your dreams.Think of it as separating the wheat from the chaff; takes what’s useful, leave the rest, and keep going!

24. When someone else appraises your harshly, you have an opportunity to monitor your internal self-talk. Research indicates up to 80% of our thoughts are negative. Take this opportunity to monitor and change your thought processes so you don’t drain and sabotage yourself!

25. Receiving feedback well reminds you it’s OK to have flaws—imperfection is part of being human. If you can admit weakness and work on them without getting down on yourself, you’ll experience far more happiness, peace, enjoyment, and success.

We are all perfectly imperfect, and other people may notice that from time to time. We may even notice in it each other.

Somehow accepting that is a huge weight off my mind.

Breathe!

and 

Live!