Critical in thought, not of yourself.

Be critical in thought, but not over critical of yourself.

Critical thinking is the ability to think about something for yourself and determine whether you agree or not based upon your own calculus. Critical thinking is what we need a lot more of these days. Too often, we take other people's words for the truth without doing critical thinking. Following the herd is easier than making a path for yourself that is true, but the herd does not always move in the right direction. To think critically you must abandon positionality and be open to the idea being true or not true and then making sure in your own analysis that it is true.

So think critically about things. But don't be overly critical of yourself. True that we must be critical of ourselves if we act unconsciously or stupidly or negatively, but only for a moment and then we must learn our lesson and move forward. Being overly critical of yourself is a form of self-attack. It is important not to attack yourself, rather to save your energy for the learning of the lesson and the promise to not make same mistakes twice. Be watchful for criticizing, negative thoughts aimed at yourself and let them go mid-sentence. We must be our own best friend, not our own enemy. We must use our mind for positive potential rather than negative abuse. Give yourself a break as you do your best in this world! Have compassion for yourself first.