MANILA -- Dealing with criticism? Here's a tip from Gretchen Barretto.
Speaking with beauty doctor to the stars Aivee Teo, the actress said she has reached the point in her life where she is no longer bothered with what people are saying about her.
She pointed out that one does not live "for the approval of people," including "bashers."
"They (bashers) used to bother me when I was so much younger... because I lived in a world where I felt that all they thought of me or their opinion would matter, or that's all it mattered. But not anymore," she said.
"I'm 51. I mean, really? How can all your opinion just matter?" she added. "Parang I learned to live like, 'Okay, I know everything I do is going to matter to them.'"
Barretto said she learned how to handle criticism from her long-time partner, businessman Tonyboy Cojuangco.
She recalled one of her conversations with Cojuangco, back when she was overly affected by her mother's remarks.
"It was a long time ago, when my mom had like opinions of me... and I was really, terribly distraught," she said.
The actress went on: "He (Cojuangco) said... 'I'll ask you one question.' Because I was really getting depressed. He goes, 'Will it matter? Will your life change?' He's really good at that. And then I said, 'No, not really.'"
"And then he said to me, 'Then why are you bothered?' Then it opened my life. I learned na, oo nga ano. I mean, do they have control over my life, my lifestyle, or anything else?" she stressed.
"Whatever the situation is, I learned [that] whatever you accept is what it will be."
Barretto and the rest of her showbiz clan have become involved in many controversies over the years.
While she is no longer as active on the big and small screens, the public still gets to see a glimpse of her daily life through Instagram, where she has 1.6 million followers.
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