Gracious Compliments
We need to give them out and learn to receive them appropriately
Why is it that women have such a hard time receiving compliments and responding appropriately?
I read a fantastic story by @lucia-landini called “What I Have Learned From Giving Compliments To Women I Never Met Before” on this very subject, and it reminded me of an interesting experience I had.
I was living in Washington D.C. I hadn’t made many friends yet, so I was out shopping at a bookstore by myself. As I went to leave the bookstore, a glamorous woman who looked to be close to my age opened the door as she was entering the store, and held it open so that I could exit — but as she did so, she said with an open and refreshing smile on her face “You are BEAUTIFUL!”
First of all, SHE was beautiful. She was well-dressed without oozing “money.” She had zero expectations of how I would receive this compliment. She wasn’t fishing for a compliment herself … and she was a supremely confident woman. She merely gave this compliment to me, smiled broadly, and was on her way.
Secondly, I was NOT beautiful, or especially well-dressed, or young. The most that I can say for myself on that day was that I had made an “effort” and may have been wearing a particularly nice top … but that was it. Nothing special. The…
