Flattery

Flattered, it's so simple. You compliment someone and it's how they are supposed to feel.

Right?

Maybe not. I work at a certain retail store, and last Saturday I made it my mission to compliment 10 people. I use the term people loosely as I only complimented girls. Not to say I wouldn't compliment a guy, but you already have the stereotype working at a clothing store. Well every girl that I complimented had the cheesiest grin and thanked me. :) They were flattered as they should have been.

So why when I go home, whether to Ashley or some friends, is it so much more awkward to give a compliment? I give a compliment to some girl I know, what's the response "thanks but.....(fill in depressing admission of low self esteem here)"

If I compliment a family member the response is "what do you want?" Do I NEED to have an underlying reason to recognize that an outfit works, or a job well done? I shouldn't, but unfortunately nowadays I do. So is it a trust issue?

I think it's the self esteem. I'm not saying that our generation doesn't CRAVE awards. We get trophies just for playing, and our bosses are taking seminars to learn to praise our work more. The problem is that suddenly everyone is so enamored with what we are "doing". YAY I got a promotion. Yay I won an award. I'm proud of my accomplishments, but I hate it when I look in the mirror. I hate looking myself in the eyes. This mindset wreaks havoc everywhere. People can't sit in a room by them self because they are bored with who they are.

I'm not saying that everyone morning you should look in the mirror and tell yourself how beautiful you are, or smart, or funny. But when someone else says it, it's true.

Why does the compliment have to be "you look GREAT, you've been losing weight!" Why does it have to be an action. How about "you look GREAT".

I think we as a society need to spread the love a little bit. Our parents give us trophies, our bosses give us praise, maybe we could do our part and compliment the next pretty smile you see :).

and yes in the future i will try to be more organized with my thoughts :)