Awesome. The very rare mix of perfectionism and humility... I only wish he were describing me!
When my son was in second grade he ran into his first bully on the playground. He came home in tears and after a lot of prying it was obvious why he was embarrassed. It wasn't that the kid was bigger, stronger or more abusive, but that he allowed himself to get upset over a silly comment. We had a long talk about attitudes and such and one thing made a huge impact on me. Yes, me. No one else is in charge of my happiness, my sorrow and my ability to accept criticism but me. Only me. Oh sure, unpleasant events can and will happen, but I am in charge of how it affects me and how I react. Yes, even the biggies like when my son died.
It begins with fully understanding why you're on ScubaBoard. Why are you reading? Why are you responding? Sure, we have our hopeless POV warriors that are here to prove that they alone are right. Meh. Most of us are here to learn. We've Googled something that sent us here and we've fallen in love with the community. So, if we're here to learn why do some of us act offended when someone gives us a learning point in the form of a criticism? Yes, there are some concepts where I am unmoving like there is no need for a CESA in Scuba instruction and that the goal of every OW class is to produce perfectly flat and neutrally buoyant divers. But, for the most part, I participate to learn. I express my views hoping that any erroneous views will be challenged and that I'll learn something. A perfect example of this was when
@H2Andy suggested that since it was so heavy that we should use water instead of lead for ballast. The following discussion was epic and Andy ate a good bit of crow. But he took it all good naturedly without a single bit of bitterness or self pity. Mind you, Andy is brilliant and he simply had a senior moment in his youth. He had that very rare mix of perfectionism and humility.
So the next time you feel you're being "attacked", take a moment, take a breath and see if there's something in there that you can learn. Look for the bonus and stop being overwhelmed with concern for how others think of you.
It's true that the best parents are the ones who've never had a child. They're quick to point out how you've failed and sometimes they're right. It's fun when they finally join you in the trenches and figure out it's not as easy as they thought.