This is why it's important to choose very carefully who your friends are and who you associate with: you want people around who are going to be positive and enc

This is why it's important to choose very carefully who your friends are and who you associate with: you want people around who are going to be positive and encouraging, not tear you down no matter what you do. You also need to develop a very thick skin. One also needs to be careful not to fall into the same trap of criticism and negativity oneself - it's just way too easy to be a hypocrite. (An aside: constructive criticism can be helpful, although I think almost any kind of criticism too early in any learning/exploratory/discovery process can be counter-productive. Some people couch tearing you down as "constructive criticism". Again, it's a good strategy to simply avoid such people, or manage them out of your life, where you can.)