On Receiving Compliments
Posted by 
Cajen | Filed under life series
It shocked me to discover that a very good friend of mine doesn’t know how to receive compliments. He doesn’t even know how to react to compliments. I probed. I discovered that he feels uncomfortable being complimented. I asked why. He said that he doesn’t want to be seen as someone who is being arrogant. Interesting, I noted. I told him that it’s really simple to accept compliments. Take me for example, I usually put on my best smile, and say two words. Just two words: “I know.”
To which he promptly laughed. I told him I wasn’t joking. “I know you are not joking. But only you can pull that off.” Well it was a bit straightforward, and yes, it might, just might be misconstrued as arrogance. Perhaps that’s the reason I don’t make new friends anymore. In any case, I told him that he can just graciously accept the compliment by saying “Thank you.” And that’s it. Accepting compliments graciously is the most appropriate way of accepting a compliment. You appreciate them acknowledging your talents and at the same time reinforce to yourself that you deserve a pat in the back for a job well done. Accepting compliments graciously is an indication of having pride in what we do and knowing that, yes, I have done an excellent job. Having that kind of pride shows through the way we handle ourselves. People will sense this and acknowledge it. We feel proud for our achievements and talents WITHOUT the need to broadcast them to everyone or the need to FISH for compliments, because people will recognize this.
And you have to understand that giving out compliments is not that easy. I personally don’t give out compliments that easily until I feel that they deserve them. That being said, how would it feel to the person who just complimented you if you decline his compliment? What kind of self-image are you projecting? Wouldn’t it be easier if you just accepted the compliment graciously?
Now, this friend of mine told me that some people might drop a compliment maliciously - not in the same spirit of recognition and acknowledgement. In that case, “thank you”, is still appropriate. You thank that person for letting you know what kind of person he is. More so, gratitude still applies because he just taught you a valuable lesson: What to do to lose a friend. And, as always, don’t forget to flash that winning smile of yours.
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Tags: compliments, gratitude, self help, self image
Hi there and welcome! I am an accomplished gamer, programmer and web designer enthusiast, an artist interrupted, a budding entrepreneur, and now a blogger. Through this blog, I will be sharing you my thoughts and I hope that you do the same. This blog will contain blogging tips & tricks, fireworks tutorials, photoshop tutorials, web design, graphics, and then some. As I’ve mentioned in my first post, I claim no level of proficiency in any of the tutorials that I will be posting, however, I pride myself in being a good instructor and I will try to make them as easy as possible for everyone.