Day 1288

The other day, I received a wonderful gift from Cousin Jill! She handed me a large ornament that is designed to impart “Kindness Ideas” when you log in to the QR code. An adorable Santa shares video messages on your phone about being kind and suggests we go forward and sprinkle kindness throughout each day. The first message encouraged us to give compliments to those around us.

Most of us have a difficult time receiving compliments. Perhaps we were trained, at an early age, to be humble and other-oriented. Observing individuals fend off compliments, as if they were most unwelcome, was a common sight to my eyes.

Example:

“What a beautiful sweater!”

“This old thing? I have had it for years!”

So, after offering a compliment and hearing responses that were not appreciative, I decided I would work hard at accepting them with grace and humility . After all, the “complimenter” meant no harm and was simply being kind.

Today, we have been dishing out compliments right and left. Most people have a hard time to cough up a simple “Thank you,” but our sincere offering of kind words was showered about liberally!

The formula that worked for me:

1. Give sincere Compliment

2. Recipient deflects

3. Tell them it came from your heart

4. Immediate “Thank you!” follows!

I wonder what Santa (with his beautiful white hair and handsome suit) has up his sleeve for tomorrow?