Today I'm grateful for criticism

I've known for as long as I can remember that I wanted to write
I wanted to write movies
I wanted to write songs
I wanted to write books
I wanted to write sweet feature stories that tug at your heart strings
In my mind I was (and still am) a pretty darn good writer
What I wasn't prepared for was the criticism that comes along with being a writer.

In college,I wrote for the campus paper.
The day I was added to the newspaper staff was probably one of my best days ever.
I recall being so excited at opening the paper and seeing my name listed alongside all the other staff writers' names and I remember jumping with joy and bragging to everyone each time an article appeared in the paper with my name in the byline.

But my excitement was shortlived.
I walked into my editor's office one afternoon to ask a question and during the conversation I happened to glance at her computer and what I saw changed my life.
She was writing her annual staff performance review and my name was at the very top and her only comment was "she's too opinionated".

Yes.I am a very opinionated person.
And in all honesty,thats not exactly the trait you want to have as a news person.
You have to be objective (and I can be objective).
But seeing those words on the screen really crashed me.
I didn't write a single thing again for close to 2 years because each time I put pen to paper,all I saw were the words "too opinionated".

A new editor (who also happened to be my friend) asked me why I stopped writing and I shared that story with him.I'll never forget what he told me.He said,"You're a good writer.Use that critique to grow".

I'll forever be grateful for that conversation.
I have been writing since that day.
I don't always get it right.
Sometimes I have to do re-writes
But the most important thing is now when my work gets criticised,I don't take it personally.The person isn't criticising me as Mimi,they are criticising my work and helping me grow and get better as a writer.
It's taken me a LONG time to grasp that.
But now that I finally have,I welcome feedback,both positive and negative so today,I'm grateful for criticism because without it,I wouldn't be half as good a writer as I am.