You’re beautiful, I love your hair, you have nice legs, look at your arms, those jeans look great on you, or {insert whatever compliment}.
When is the last time you actually took a compliment and said “Thank you” without a comeback? We are so quick to add a “but”, right after someone compliments us on
something. Unfortunately, many of us diminish the compliment the second it is given, rather than appreciating it and acknowledging it.
I don’t know about you, but I always had a “but”, or just brushed it off and immediately complimented them on something. That’s fine to do, but not the part where I disregard the compliment they gave me.
It has taken many years to break this habit. Some deep down renewing of my mindset had to take place. You see, for most of my school years and bit into my college years, I had really low self-esteem. My self-worth was lacking. I just couldn’t let any praise be received. A lot of the negative feelings stemmed from bullies, mean school mates, and even some emotional abuse at home. Not to get to touchy, but I wanted to give you a bit of background
first.
Over the years, I truly worked on loving myself from the inside out. I think one of the biggest things that has helped me is knowing who I am in Jesus. Knowing that he did not make any mistakes, and despite the teasing and ridicule that I could and can overcome it all.
Journaling and talking about it
with some great mentors were also a factor. Then, I fell in love with the way that lifting weights made me feel. The focus when I begin lifting many years ago wasn’t about losing all the weight I could, it was about being strong, confident, and empowered. That’s just what I got. I loved it, and I felt so much better about myself.
Now, today, I can accept a compliment and know that its true and out of admiration. I can
take the compliment, smile, and say thank you. It took some work and love for myself. It is possible. Accepting a compliment with grace isn’t an indication of vanity or pride – it’s simply acknowledging another person’s admiration for some aspect of you. Being humble, as most of us were taught to do, does not mean putting ourselves down. You can accept a compliment and be humble, all at the same time!
We get so caught up and think that we are not good enough as we are, right here in the moment. Part of the problem is the internal dialogue we have with ourselves. We are quick to put ourselves down first, before anyone else does.
3 things that you can do today:
- Take the compliment, say thank you and zip it. Take that compliment
your friend or loved one gave you and hold onto it in your heart. Write it down, make it your wall paper or something, and refer back to it often, until you believe it.
- Find something that you love about yourself, make it a big deal, and refer back to it often when you get into a funk about something negative that you don’t like about yourself.
- This, of course, is not an overnight process and we may not like all things all at once about ourselves, but I know that there is something that we can hone in on right now. <3
- Give someone a compliment, hand it them out freely. Making someone else feel good, in return makes us feel good. I bet it will drive you nuts when someone says “but” or you
see their body language from the compliment you gave them.
- Remember the response and demeanor they gave you for the next time you get a compliment. So, perk up, take the compliment and of course give one back.
Here’s to taking compliments, self-love, and self-worth. you are
loved, you are beautiful, and one of kind.
Remember, no “buts” or resisting compliments. Believe in you and start with that one thing. Lastly, you can still love yourself while working on yourself. You don’t have to wait, because conditions will never be perfect.
Have a wonderful weekend!
P.S. Can you do me a huge favor, hit reply, take 30 sec and tell me - one thing you are loving about yourself this very moment?
For me – My smile, I love it. Even with my braces! My smile is one of the things that I used to help start loving myself, right here and right now.
