Monday, March 15, 2010

Compliment Miser



I don't give a lot of compliments - I'm more a provider of criticism by nature. Judgements simply flow much more easily from lips. I also subscribe to the theory that if you don't say too many nice things on a regular basis, when you do finally bust out an accolade it makes a much larger impression. Something happened, though, this weekend that is causing me to reconsider my tendency to be tight with the positive words. I was lucky enough to get together Saturday night after work with my oldest friends (have I mentioned recently how much I love my husband, life and friends?), and was so happy to share some time with people I have known for 30+ years, that I found myself freely giving compliments. And they were appreciated and well-received. When I told one of my friends with earnest sincerity that she was "so pretty," I swear, she almost cried. Her face lit up and that small admiring comment made her glow even prettier than before!! Her reaction got me to thinking... Maybe I shouldn't ration compliments like my husband rations directions when we're driving. Perhaps I should strive to be as equally generous with positive remarks as I am with critical judgements. And, just in case the people that I spent Saturday night with are unaware of how important they are to me, I'd like to drop a major tribute to them here - I seriously love you guys and my life would be so much less without each of you in it. Does that cover me for a while?

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