We've all been there.

We all have that one person whom we can never seem to please. The good news is that many others who will read this article are in the same boat. If you're looking for a step-by-step process describing how to solve the problem, look somewhere else. But if you've come to hear yet another person's rant about that one individual whose expectations can never be fulfilled, you've come to the right place.

Let me begin by stating that the person about whom I'm choosing to write is an influential figure in my life.

I wouldn't be close to where I am without his support and his guidance, but sometimes, as I get older, I've noticed that the advice he chooses to give has a sharper sting than the floating suggestions from others around me.

Unlike this person's choices of wording, others' criticisms land in softer, more pillowy fashions than do the slap-in-the-face comments that he shoots without thinking how hard they might land.

I'll admit, I've never been good at taking criticism. In fact, one could say that I suck at it.

That doesn't alter the fact that someone who shows his love through generous Christmas and birthday presents continues to spout off about any and all of my missteps whenever he's given the chance.

Through his financial success, he's helped provide me with an education and more material security than any college student could need.

But through voiced praise and support, I've received a big goose egg. He pays more attention to his new wife's dog than to his own younger, still impressionable relative.

Have I gone fishing for compliments?

You bet I have, and I do it too much as it is.

I get nothing but chuckles and guffaws at my incompetence or verbal stings regarding what I'm taking too long to get done.

Then, when I try too hard to remedy my latest debacle, I end up knocking over a glass of water or proving once again my inferiority in the presence of someone I only want to please. This someone, along with my grandmother and my godmother in Chicago, are the closest ties to my mother I have left.

At this point, I've almost decided to stop trying.

I feel as if simply breathing in the presence of this significant someone is enough to tap-dance on some nerve, so, through what can sometimes be a poorly-aimed jab or quip of exhaustion, he's driven me away more than he's brought me closer.

In her book Sum It Up, former Tennessee head coach Pat Summitt wrote of her father's never-ending dissatisfaction with whatever she did. Summitt didn't even hear the words "I love you" echo from her father's lips until well into her career as the Lady Vols' head coach.

If I haven't already stated the obvious, let me reiterate that I'm not looking for the mushy praise which I'm spoiled enough to have regularly heaped upon me by numerous relatives who think I do nothing wrong.

But if I could get a "good job" every once in a while instead of being chastised for my latest attempt to please one of my most prominent male role models, that'd be OK, too.