This essay is called a "This I Believe Essay". The format comes from the NPR radio show and thisibelieve.org. I have had it peer reviewed to make sure it meets all the content requirements, however I am a terrible proofreader. Any grammar suggestions for improvement would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Please note some formatting such as indentations between paragraphs was lost.

I believe in becoming the man in the arena. The individual who takes everything the world can throw at them and still gets up for more. The person who rises to every challenge that faces them and fights through it win or lose. It is easy for others to criticize us, to tell us we have no chance at achieving our goals. It doesn’t matter whether the critic is right or not, what matters is how the person on the receiving end deals with the criticism. Do they let it depress them, give up at their endeavors and go on being the same, or do they consider the merit of the criticism and jump back into the arena to go for another round. That’s the difference between success and failure.

About seven years ago I was diagnosed with manic depression. At that that time I didn’t deal with criticism very well, in fact it was the main cause of my problems. One day I was categorized as a high-risk for suicide. I was admitted to a hospital facility that specialized in dealing with such patients. It was in meeting these other patients that I realized I didn’t have a serious disability. My issues came from a problem with dealing with interactions with other people, mainly from criticism they gave me. I didn’t understand the concept of the man in the arena until that point. I let everything get to me. I knew I had to change that. So I listened to the criticism and advice that I received from counselors and doctors, but rather than dwell on the negative parts of their input, I evaluated it to see if it was applicable to me and if it was applied it. I did change and a few weeks later I was released from the hospital. It took time to adjust to the new way of thinking, but it worked. I did this by fighting through my problems and through the criticisms of others. Going into that situation the outlook for my diagnoses was very bleak, but I ignored the predictions of everyone else and focused on what I knew was true.

Since that time I realized that the world is driven by people in the arena. Albert Einstein, now considered to be one of the greatest physicists of all time was once considered to be unintelligent. He had difficulty getting into schools of higher education. When he finally did and graduated he was unable to get a job, he was forced to take a job that he got through a family connection as a patent office clerk. Einstein tried to get a job teaching but could not, in fact some schools that he applied to actually wrote back telling him he was crazy and should give up. His methods of solving problems were considered unscientific because they did not follow the strict method set in place at the time.

Einstein never gave up though; finally his ideas were recognized for their brilliance. He a world renowned physicist he had schools lining up to hire him and in 1922 he was awarded a Nobel Prize. Einstein persevered despite everyone else’s beliefs, had he not done that the world would have been a different place. Imagine if Albert Einstein had not signed the letter detailing the Nazi’s attempts to construct nuclear weapons.

There are times however, where it is important to recognize when criticism can be valuable. Abraham Lincoln is a prime example of a man who recognized the importance not only of persevering, but of have people there to criticize ideas to make them better. Prior to his election as President Abraham Lincoln had a very difficult and depressing life to name a few; he was defeated in five different political elections before becoming president, his sweetheart died, and he suffered a temporary nervous breakdown. Although he had a few setbacks he never let them deter him for long. Lincoln was finally elected President of the United States in 1860, he would go on to lead the country successfully through its darkest hour and would be recognized as one of the greatest American Presidents of all time. However besides his ability to look past criticism and setbacks he had another interesting talent.

After his election, President Lincoln knew that the country was headed for difficult times. He also knew that a single man with one way of thinking could not get the country through the coming storm. In order to solve this problem Lincoln brought in a cabinet of rivals. People that opposed not only his ideas, but the ideas of each other, some of these individuals were even bitter political enemies. In doing this Lincoln ensured that any idea would be thoroughly thought through before being put into effect. In this case the criticism of Lincoln’s own and other ideas was an asset as it forced everyone to think in different ways.

An important point to recognize about what Lincoln did, and about any type of criticism given is that it cannot be allowed to get in the way of the ultimate goal. Criticism can be a very valuable tool, but only when used properly. If it becomes all consuming, it defeats any positive impact it may have. There will be critics who will criticize for the sake of being negative. That is the most important time to think about the value of what they are saying. It can be the most difficult criticism to deal with. That is why it is important to consider its value.

I’m not suggesting that every time a person is criticized they undertake a campaign to prove the critic completely wrong in every way, what I am saying is that if an individual really believes in something they should strive to make that belief a reality. There are some fights that cannot be won, for those cases, I say battle through the problem and go on with life, with the knowledge that even though the battle was lost it was not a failure and a valuable lesson was learned. The only way a person can truly fail is to let a critic’s word stop them from achieving a goal. So I challenge everyone to stop and think about the next criticism they receive, to ask themselves if its valuable, and if it is to use it, and if it isn’t to move on.