Compliments

What would be the best compliment a friend could pay you?(I explore this as a lighthearted activity with adults).

If you can't think of anything - which of the following would you most like to hear someone say to you.

You are kind
You are witty
I always enjoy being with you
You are good at art
You always cheer me up
You are easy to talk to
You have a great imagination
You are really helpful
You are a stylish dresser
You are really interesting
You are a very unusual person
Your advice is always great
You are generous
You are good at writing
Everyone likes you
You are so clever

What I have learnt from doing this activity:

1) It's funny because this is truly different for every person.

2) Some people, really, really cannot receive compliments. It's linked to very poor self esteem.

3)Most of us appear to like to be complimented about things we already feel truly proud of because it means someone has noticed a quality we allow ourselves to believe we genuinely possess. Also, if we have managed to muster up some pride in something, we appear to be more likely to properly receive the compliment as opposed to brushing it off as insincere. It's a good feeling when someone has actually noticed that we are good at something, because not many people appear to be looking!

4) We are tuned to hear the one criticism in a sea of compliments. Everyone knows this but it's still tragic! Is that cultural, perfectionism or human nature?

5) One person's compliment can be another person's insult. It's all in the receiving! Take, 'you are against the grain.' I was told that by someone and took it as a compliment. They meant it as an insult!

6) We are not generally a nation that is good at giving and receiving well-considered compliments.

What are you going to do about it?

Comments

Post a Comment

I LOVE comments......

Popular posts from this blog

Breaking the blog spell...

My beautifully captivating and mesmerising big sister cast a spell on me. It was a spell that would make me sit in up in the clouds and write a blog every single day...mostly for her benefit - as she dutifully and kindly read and commented on each one. Being easily coaxed into most things and liking the idea of a blog meant this spell was fine...for a while. Then.....I was sitting minding my own business (I look quite funny when I do that - most people do) when a huge green common-sense elf wearing red hotpants came and waved his wand at me declaring, "Writing a blog every day when you work full time, have two youngish children and a million projects on the go at any one time, is a little silly. You can waffle on and on about just about anything and do have about forty draft blogs saved ready to run, but it's probably best you aim more for quality than quantity and only write about slightly more fully formed ideas! After all, less IS more." I was released -although I fear
Read more

51 quirky features of Norwich Cathedral that you can go and find

Image
I have always loved Norwich Cathedral as it is beautiful and atmospheric. But it turns out that it is also loaded with a hotchpotch of history as building started in 1096. The more I learn about it, the more fascinated I become. So here are my recommendations for what to look out for should you ever visit the cathedral. 1) The Elizabethan grave of Thomas Gooding Thomas was a mason of the cathedral. He paid a fair amount of money to be buried upright because he believed this would give him an advantage come judgement day. At the base of his memorial is a typical of its time, poignantly death-focused inscription: 'All you that do this pass bye Remember death for you must dye As you are now even so was I And as I am so shall you be Thomas Gooding here do staye Wayting for God's judgement day' If you look at the skeleton, you will see there is poor knowledge of anatomy. 2) The grave of the baby that died before she was born . I have been told that this is be
Read more

Anal Retention Test

Image
I was clearing out some old files on my computer and came across this. I wrote it in about 1999 (back when people still wrote cheques) predominantly to take the p*** out of a teaching colleague that was the opposite end of this particular spectrum to me! He took it as the silly, light-hearted bit of fun it was meant to be, but he did actually score nearly full marks. We are still friends and he's a headteacher now. Just shows you how far a bit of anal retention can take one. *************************************************** DEFINITION A popular term for “anal retentive personality,” a personality marked by excessive orderliness, extreme meticulousness, and often suspicion and reserve. According to psychoanalysis, an anal personality is formed in early childhood as a result of efforts to control bowel movements. *************************************************** Now tell me, does anal retention *increase with age? *really make life easier? *have very strong links to the need to b
Read more