This week’s Wednesday Wisdom comes from Steve Jamison’s book “Wooden” and is a quote from Coach John Wooden:

I took criticism from outsiders with a grain of salt. I told my players each year, “Fellows, you’re going to receive criticism. Some of it will be deserved and some of it will be undeserved. Either way, deserved or undeserved, you’re not going to like it.

“You’re also going to receive praise on occasion. Some of it will be deserved and some of it will be undeserved. Either way, deserved or undeserved, you’re going to like it.

However, your strength as an individual depends on how you respond to both criticism and praise. If you let either one have any special effect on you, it’s going to hurt us. Whether it’s criticism or praise, deserve undeserved, makes no difference. If we let it affect us, it hurts us.

It goes back to what my dad used to say. “If you get caught up in the things over what you have no control, it will adversely affect those things over what you have control.“

We have a little control over what criticism or praise outsiders will send our way. Take it with a grain of salt.