How Well Do You Receive Compliments?
American author Mark Twain once said, “I can live two months on a good compliment.”
How about you? What does a good compliment do for you?
For many women, accepting compliments is a difficult thing. It feels uncomfortable, so we brush them off.
But what if we started accepting them – and feeling gratitude for them? Can you imagine what it would do for our self-esteem and our sense of appreciation?
Beginning now, make a pledge to yourself. Pay attention to what other people are noticing about you – and how they’re bringing it to your attention.
Instead of playing down a compliment, look the person in the eye, smile, and say, “Thank you.” Then document it in your journal.
Every time someone gives you a compliment, write it down.
Create a special section in your journal just for compliments – and make it a lifelong habit. You may discover things about yourself that you never fully recognized.
Also, keep an eye out for those indirect compliments that can slip under the radar.
Years ago, I had a boss who never gave positive feedback. So hearing him say, “This report is not half bad” would have been cause for documentation.
Notice when someone is giving you a compliment in a moment of passing by – or passing through.
For example, when the UPS delivery person says, “Your window boxes are so beautiful. I admire them every time I bring a package to your house. You’ve really got a green thumb!” – allow yourself to receive it.
Then document the compliment in your journal – and ask yourself these questions:
- Is there truth to this compliment?
- Do I feel proud? Or do I feel embarrassed and uncomfortable?
- Where was I taught to feel this way? Who or what was my teacher?
- Have I received this compliment before? If so, how does it shine a light on me as a person? How does it highlight my gifts?
Allow yourself to really SEE who you are through the eyes of another person – and give yourself permission to receive the compliment at face value.
Notice how the compliment is flowing through your body, through your mind – and into your heart.
What’s waiting to be discovered within you – through the receiving of this compliment?
These are the types of rich questions that we’ll be exploring in next month’s Moonlight Journaling Retreat – where we’ll be dabbling with 18 different journal writing techniques as we journey through the moon phases during a real-time 28-day lunar cycle.
Come join a beautiful and very sacred circle of women – and dance with your inner wisdom as you explore the various aspects of yourself, your life, and your relationships with others – through the art of journal writing.
For more information, please click on the link above.
5 Comments
Bonnie Nussbaum
I’ve really had to work on graciously accepting compliments! Now I just say “thank you” and take some time to help the words soak in as deeply as possible.
Jill Greinke
Accepting compliments can be a difficult thing for many. What a great tip to write them down and look back on them to boost self esteem.
Kailean
It took me a long time to learn this, and I’ve gotten much better at accepting compliments. I really like your idea of writing them down and looking at them a little deeper. I think that would be a great way to really integrate the message into your being. It would be awesome to read through a journal of compliments when that old nasty self-doubt creeps in.
Barbara Williams
I love your thought provoking questions you propose to ask yourself after receiving a compliment. They certainly give you something to think about; and the way we respond to the compliment says much more about us than it does the person giving it. That makes the questions even more powerful. Thanks for sharing Tina.
Barbara
http://barbaraannwilliams.com
Teena
What a creative and inspiring idea Tina! To listen for, accept and document the compliments that we are receiving…. It has taken me a long time to accept the compliments that come my way and I am sensitive to not wanting to make others uncomfortable by giving them compliments; however I do it anyway because I believe fully that receiving compliments is food for the soul!
Teena
http://www.ignitelovenow.com