Criticism

I have much to thank Oprah for. She’s covered many difficult topics and introduced language so that more folks can talk about addictions, abuse, sex, family issues etc. But here’s a recent piece of my Oprah Gratitude List.

Last week I saw news anchor Diane Sawyer interviewed on Oprah and she talked about her marriage to Mike Nichols. She said the best piece of advice she was given for marriage was: “Criticism is just a very poor way of making a request—so maybe you can just make the request.”

I love that. I get it. “You are selfish and lazy” is just a really poor way to ask: “Can you help me?”And “You never listen” is a poor way to say, “Could you sit and listen to me for five minutes?”

Thank you Diane. Thank you Oprah.