Point to Ponder:
How well do you receive compliments?
When I sat down in January to plan what to write this month, the obvious thought was love. As I contemplated different actions we could take to demonstrate love, the one that continued to stir in my head was the ability to receive love, in the way of fully embracing and receiving a verbal compliment.
Over the past eleven years I've written about and encouraged receiving and believing a verbal compliment, so this is not a new topic. And, the reason why I continue to suggest this is because women are notoriously terrible at receiving compliments. Tell me if this sounds familiar? Upon being given a heartfelt and sincere compliment, instead of simply saying "thank you", we insist on rejecting the love and kindness with a myriad of “well”, “but”, “really!", "are you kidding me!?" On the flip side, the great news is that we are the best at giving compliments! We have no problem showering others with compliments, which is amazing.
There was once a time when I stunk at receiving compliments and was thankfully called out by a great friend. She pointed out how rude, ungrateful and unflattering it was for me to not to be able to say “thank you”, and she was right. As a result, I've thought a lot about why I couldn’t receive compliments. Did I feel unworthy? Did I not love myself enough to receive a beautiful compliment? Or was it because I was too focused on my imperfections that I couldn’t see or appreciate what others saw? Honestly, it was probably all of the above.
I’m learning that expressing gratitude is the key to living our best life, and being able to receive love in the means of a saying "thank you" to gracious compliment equals loving myself and loving the person who was kind enough to give you the compliment. Therefore, this week and moving forward, I invite you to join me in the Love Yourself Compliment Dare and begin receiving compliments with a simple smile and “thank you”...and watch closely at how receiving a kind compliment makes the day of the person who is giving it. It's becomes a double dose of love!
Action Item:
Receive a compliment with a simple smile and “thank you”...and watch closely at how receiving a generous compliment makes the day of the person who is giving it.
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