Getting a compliment is something that most people see as a good thing. Compliments are meant to be positive, something that can make your day, and something that is meant--for the most part--to genuinely uplift another person or being. I realized over the past few months after a friend of mine pointed out to me that I do not take compliments very well or rather easily. He told me that sometimes I just need to relax and to take it in and absorb it because they usually are meant well.
This thought came back to me yesterday as I was driving when I realized that I received a few compliments all in one day from various individuals I just happened to encounter. This one lady during my last night of my four-day work week transported a patient to our unit and casually complimented my hair, "I love your haircut!". The guy from the Asian supermarket greeted me, ironically, with a gracious "Hola" and told me "you look beautiful today--more than usual", and another girl came up and said "you look very cute and you smell nice." Most people generally respond to these compliments with an automatic "thank you" because that is how it usually is. Do not get me wrong, I do say my 'thank yous'. The thing about me when I receive these compliments, I have the tendency to be a little defensive about it--to the point that maybe, just maybe, it is on the annoying side of modesty. I responded to the lady who complimented my hair with a mere "oh it's shorter already" rather than a quick thank you, the guy at the store with "I didn't look beautiful the other times you saw me?" in a joking manner rather than a quick thank you, and a mere "I don't smell myself anymore but people always smell my lotion, I guess" to the girl who complimented that I smelled good rather than giving a quick thank you. When these came to mind, it bothered me. I just cannot take compliments that well. On a regular basis, I receive plenty of them. It is very flattering really, and it also makes me think that maybe I am doing something right or I am just an inexplainable magnet of compliments. I need to breathe in, take it, and whether it is genuine, playful, real or not real, most of these were said to me to somehow invoke some positive reaction. I need to learn to accept all the good that comes my way, and hope that one day, I graciously accept them like it is meant to be received. And to all of you who constantly do, I have no 'ifs', no 'buts', and no extra thoughts: this is my plain response of a genuine THANK YOU.
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