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Monday, October 8, 2012

My Compliments


The topic Stasha gave us for Monday Listicles this week is 10 Compliments.  Hmm... There are so many different ways to go with this one.  I'm just as bad as the next woman about taking a compliment gracefully.  Someone tells me she loves my hair and I respond with, "Ugh...it's entirely too thick and has a mind of its own".   Someone tells me I'm so creative or crafty or a good writer and I stutter and mumble something like, "Well, I wouldn't go so far as to say that!"  

Why do we do this?  I suppose it's because most of us are taught the importance of being humble at an early age. Humility is an admirable quality after all, isn't it?  I know I place it at the very top of the list of character traits I value most. I mean, who enjoys being around someone who is constantly tooting her own horn and singing her own praises?  Nobody. It's obnoxious. 

But being able to smile and say, "Well, thank you!" when someone pays us a heartfelt compliment is not the same thing.  It's not only healthy but respectful to the person paying it.  Who knows how long it may have taken them to get up the courage to say it in the first place.  And admit it, even when you do have a hard time accepting a compliment or fully believing it yourself, it does make you feel good inside, doesn't it?  Of course it does. 

As I was trying to decide which way to go with this prompt I recalled a journal entry I wrote several years ago, back before I even knew what a blog was...Best Compliments I've Ever Received. Some of them I simply remembered and others I found written in some of the countless cards I've collected through the years. (I never, ever throw away a card...it's the one thing I will hoard forever!)

Here are are a few of the ones I found written there and a few I have since been given or since recalled... 

1. Your faith in God impresses me...you are an inspiration to me. This was written by someone in a card about a year into my journey with grief. 

2. I always knew you'd make a great mom, and I was right. Written in a card from my mother.

3. I will always remember that you were there for me when I needed you most. Written by my best friend.

4. You've amazed me anew. In a card from Darin in reference to my new role as a mother.  

5. You can tell a lot about a person by the way they treat animals. In response to my doting over a dog who was not my own.

6. You are the kind of young woman any mother would be proud of. In a card from one of my dearest friends, old enough to be my mother, who never had kids of her own.

7. You spoil us all. From Charlie..."All" meaning himself, the boys, the dogs... the guinea pig!  

8. You are funny/hilarious/crack me up!  I place a good sense of humor right up there with humility so to have someone tell me I made them laugh...snort, even!...makes my whole entire day week!

9. That was powerful. Being told this, or something similar, in reference to something I have written is enough to keep me going for weeks...maybe even months!  

10. This (insert any dish I've just cooked and fed to my kids here) tastes just like Momaw's!  It doesn't happen often but when it does?  I am a goddess in my own mind!   

Your turn.  Tell me one of the best compliments you've ever received.  Come on, I know you can do it!  Plus, I did ask. 



  

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15 comments:

  1. One of the cub scout moms told me my hair looked great. Why I couldn't just say thanks is beyond me. Instead I told her I had just taken a shower and walked out the door.

    Evidently, no effort is better than any effort.

    *sigh*

    Sadly, I don't know how to take a compliment. Likely the best ones I ever get are in the form of comments on the blog from people I'll likely never meet in real life.

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  2. People tell me my hair always looks good but honestly its the day I haven't done much to it.

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  3. Those were all wonderful. I love what your mother said about being a great mother. The one referencing the treatment of animals is so true. And any artist can be inspired for weeks on a compliment -- those are definite blessings.

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  4. You are so right - women definitely have a tendency to minimize or make stipulations on compliments. And it isn't fair to ourselves or the person giving the compliment since it essentially implies that they don't know what they're talking about. Anyways, I like where you went with this. Best compliment? Hmmm, I love when people tell me that my writing has touched them in some way. And someone once told me that I don't seem like I'm from a small town. Not sure if that's a compliment or not. ;-)

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  5. I never seem to be able to let a compliment stand on its own without saying something like, "Thanks, but not really." I have no trouble giving them out I just don't like to receive them. And I have no idea why- other than they make my uncomfortable.

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  6. Great list! I think the nicest one I ever received was from my daughter's teacher last year. She said something to the effect of, "Your kids are so well adjusted you'd never know they came from a split family without a dad." Which is sounds kind of back-handed, but in the context of the conversation was truly the nicest compliment to my parenting.

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  7. These are so wonderful and it's awesome you save all of your cards like that!

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  8. When people tell me that I'm a good mother, I think that means the most and probably because that's what I value most - those kids. :)

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  9. It's very hard for me to take a compliment too. I always seem to offer up some disclaimer. I'm a work in progress. What thoughtful, kind compliments you were given. Lovely.

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  10. Man, why is it so hard to take a compliment.

    I'll try to remember one. But, I tend to blow them off!

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  11. I love that you saved these! And that you're learning how to take a compliment. It's crazy how hard it can be!

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  12. It's awesome that you kept these cards. I should totally do that for those pick me up days.
    Ummm for me...the last comment I heard was from an old highschool friend who became a professor in English. Through the grapevine...a.ka. facebook, he found my blog.
    He told me that I'm silly for writing on a blog. I was stunned and wanted to punch him..then he said, "Because you should be writing a book."....threw me off the bar stool

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  13. These truly are beautiful and heartfelt. And I am certain they were well deserved. I love this list, just the kind I had in mind when I called for the topic. Rock on Diane!!

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  14. Lovely, lovely post!

    One of my students told his mom that I was his favorite teacher because I am always so positive. When she told me, I was really blown away. I would never have expected that I was special to him or that he saw this specialness in me.

    Great piece just when I needed it. Erin

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  15. #1 would be enough for me. That could be the best compliment anyone could give. Awesome listicle. :)

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