Thick or thin crust? Not exactly...

 Throughout my life people have been telling me I just need a thicker skin. I completely disagree.  Believe me, I know things in my life would have been and could be easier if I had a thick and impenetrable skin. However, I’ll stick with thin, thank you.

Too feel and too feel deeply is a gift, not a curse.  It can make things challenging, but it can also make life beautiful and inspiring. 

By feeling deeply I have grown as a person and have gained amazing relationships.  I truly believe that by being the type of person who can be affected easily by others I am able to better understand a wider variety of people.  This is crucial in the path I have chosen to follow.

I am not, nor do I want to be, impervious to criticism.  It is through criticism that great things have come to be for me. 

The criticism is painful to receive, but how I respond is in my control, one of the few things in life I can control.  I do not forget criticism. Instead I keep a bank of criticisms to pull from to problem solve for new experiences.   

So many of the things I experience or have experienced lend to reflection on what ifs for our children.  Do I want my kids to have thick skin? Yes and no.  I don’t want them to be hurt, but I do want them to really feel, feel to their cores when necessary.

While I will still appreciate how people will tell me that “things will get easier” or “you just need a thicker skin,” I know that inside I will say a word of thanks for feeling as I do.