The Fine Art of Taking a Compliment

Dear Girls, Women, Ladies and Friends Everywhere,

I have a bone to pick with our female-kind. Why is it that we can give compliments all day long but very few of us seem properly equipt to take one?

POP QUIZ!!!

Someone walks up to you on the street and says "Oh I love your dress". The correct response is:
A. "This is the only piece of clothing I own that will fit my fat ass right now"
B. "I got it for $5"
C. "This old rag?"
D. "Why thank you" with a smile.

Now this is not rocket science. We all know what the right response is to a compliment don't we? You simply thank the complimentor for noticing your fabulousness and go on about your business. If you happen to notice something about them that you genuinely and sincerely appreciate, why not reciprocate?

Why? Why? Why do we often talk ourselves down as our friends, family or even strangers make attempts to build us up. If we can't learn to take compliments for ourselves, then we should do it for them. Nothing is more uncomfortable than having a female you've complimented dog themselves right after you told them something you appreciate about them (whether physical or otherwise). If you think about it, that is the social equivalent of outright arguing with someone who is trying to be nice to you!

This is something I have personaly been working on for years now. And I would like to think that I have improved by leaps and bounds since initially noticing this weakness in myself. After quite sometime of making an effort to simply say "Thank You" when someone says something nice, something strange began to happen. I actually started believing, to some degree, the nice things that people were saying to me. Not to say that I don't occasionally think to myself "This old thing?" when someone says they like my shirt, but the simple act of speaking the words "Thank You" somehow make the nicety a little more true. And nothing feels better than making someone else feel good about themselves. So go ahead, say "Thanks" and make your complimentors day! You might even gain a little more confidence in the process.

Love,

Rachel