stop criticizing the bad things in others that I really see in myself

I’m becoming more and more aware of this. A long while ago I heard some piece of wisdom that we tend to dislike in others what we don’t want to acknowledge, or aren’t comfortable with, about ourselves.

SO TRUE.

99% of the time when I find myself mildly^{1} rejecting or judging someone, it’s because they have some unappealing aspect that reminds me of things I don’t like about myself.

This is what I want to work on—improving myself by noticing my reactions (thoughts, feelings) to the flaws and shortcomings I see in other people.

{1} I say “mildly” because I’m talking about superficial, casual reactions. On the other hand, there are clearly people that I don’t like for damn good reasons.