Receive & Reciprocate

 By:  Ada Z.

        Do you find that when someone gives you a compliment you shy away and say something other than thank you?  I used to do this often.  When someone would say something nice to me, I would come up with a reason that their compliment was untrue.

        "I love your dress!" They would exclaim.  

        "Oh this dress?  It's so old, I've had it forever.  It was on sale."

Or they would say...

        "Your hair looks beautiful today!"

        "Really?  I didn't wash it yesterday...it's so frizzy."

        Why did I always seem to have these reactions?   A simple thank you would have been sufficient but for some reason I couldn't bring myself to accept the compliment.  

        After a quick Google search I realized that I am not alone.  It seems that people with low self-esteem and social anxiety tend to be less accepting of compliments.  I suffer from both but since I have become more aware of those anxieties, I have been intentional about the way I am speaking to myself and to others.  

        Now when someone gives me a compliment, I simply say thank you.  In the beginning those words did not come easy but as time wore on, it became easier and easier.  It became natural to accept the compliment and for me to actually believe those words to be true.  

        Saying thank you to a compliment received, however, is not enough.  I make sure to reciprocate that compliment with something nice about that person.  I love saying nice things to people and watching their face light up.  I even try to give people a compliment before they have a chance to compliment me.  Not only do you make them happy, you will make yourself feel happy as well.  It feels amazing to make someone happy and it could turn their whole day around.