Criticism sticks to me like glue; it crumples my self-confidence like tissue paper and has the tendency to make me spiral. I hate it, but I know I need it, at least the ones that allow me to improve and grow, but they always feel the same; pointed, jagged, bitter, malicious. It's not a form of rejection but my ego convinces me otherwise. Where I derive my self-worth from external praises and validation, criticism is the opposite of what my ego wants so I run, far away, and cower like the coward I am. Criticism hurts more than physical wounds, it's a mental fatigue that hangs over you like a portent, only because I can't, won't let go.