The Tea Pot and The Kettle

We all know the famous saying “the teapot calling the kettle black.”

It is used to describe a situation where a person accuses someone of doing the very thing they are guilty of. For instance, the person who is a frequent litterer telling someone not to litter.

But, there is this weird reaction that we humans have.

Let's say someone criticizes us for something we do, but we feel that they are guilty of the same.

Rather than accepting the criticism as valid, we get defensive and shoot down the idea that what they are saying is true.

We tell ourselves that because this person is guilty of the same thing, they do not have the right to criticize us.

How strange is that?

Let me use an example that highlights this.

Let’s say there are two moderately overweight individuals enjoying each other’s company. One of them tells the other “you are starting to look a bit out of shape” to which the other person responds “so do you.”

Does this response seem rational?

Rather than accepting the truth of the statement, they retort back in a non-productive manner with the intent of attacking the other person.

No one benefits from this.

So what is the point of this and why am I bringing it up?

Here is the thing, constructive criticism and feedback should always be welcome.

Without criticism and feedback, we will not grow.

We must learn to embrace criticism head-on, no matter the circumstances.

Don’t dance around and convince yourself that the person delivering the feedback shouldn’t be the one delivering it.

It does not matter how black the teapot is, if the kettle is even the tiniest bit black it should listen to the teapot.