Do Compliments Make You, Well, Kind Of Freak Out?! ♥

look in the mirror - practice! (no really, I'm serious)

Say "Thank You" and smile. No further comment needed - do not look away. Act like they've just lit up your world for noticing.

If you feel further conversations are required - such as when someone is looking at my artwork and I'd love to get them interested - ask what about it intrigues them.

I had to learn - and to practice it. It's frustrating to give a compliment and have to give it over and over when the person goes into denial and self abasement.

smile. say, "thank you."

Love your blog by the way!

Compliment-accepting is definitely an area I could improve. Sometimes, people complimenting me about a part of me (my eyes, my new dress, etc.) actually makes me MORE conscious of it & therefore, a little more scared that it looks awful/crazy/totally ridiculous! I have gotten to the stage, though, where I just smile & say "Thank you" & (as quickly as possible) compliment something about THEM--so the pressure's off me almost immediately.

It's a shame, I know--but I'm working on it!

Also, funny you should write about this because I just wrote a similar post the other day on my blog. I wrote that if we can TALK ABOUT OUR FLAWS, we should just as easily be able to TALK ABOUT THE GOOD THINGS. I know this isn't always the case, but it's something to think about!

I'm taken aback pretty easily, especially if the compliments are from people I don't know very well. I usually hurriedly say thank you and quickly compliment them back. It's a trained reaction so I'm not just staring, at a loss and then a delayed reaction 30 seconds later me going, "Uh, thanks!" :P

Corrine- No no, it's not the fault of the compliment giver. I just have to learn to accept them better. Whilst I never see what the compliment giver is saying, I still appreciate the thought I guess?

I am not good at explaining things, am I? :D

I've gotten better over the years at receiving a compliment gracefully. But I realised at the recent blogger meet-up that I totally downgrade my blog when asked by people about it, like "oh, that little thing". It's not good! It's kinda like sabotaging myself, and I need to work on it...

When responding to a compliment, I try to think about how I feel when complimenting someone else. If I said the same thing to someone else, would I want them to tell me I was wrong?

Usually I just say "thank you", or give a compliment in return. When it's something personal like my artwork or academic achievements, I can sometimes feel very self conscious or critical, but I try to understand why someone would see good in what I've done.

It depends. If I know that something of mine is precious I'll say "Oh isn't it divine? =]" But if I really didn't think that something I had on was that nice to receive a compliment, I will act quite modest.

i get terribly terribly shy. and then start to list all the reasons why it's not true, in my head, and sometimes outloud depending on the compliment-er. which is, i'm sure, not a very enearing quality, really - one is supposed to take everything with at least a modicum of grace, even compliments we deem untrue.

what i always find strangest, though, is the high premium people place on being able to take criticism well, because logically, one would think it ought to carry through to the other end of the scale, but somehow... plus of course 'modesty' is seen as a feminine virtue. it is a somehow hard to be very feminine And say thank you for compliments instead of demmuring - there's really no pattern for it, you know?

i feel like we really need more compliment-taking rolemodels!

I'm very happy to say that I'm working at a place with genuinely friendly people and that at university, everyone else is really open and caring as well - so there are always flung many compliments at you about a lot of different things.

Working there and hanging out with all those people has taught me that sometimes, it is not quite so bad to accept compliments and that they are even easier to accept when returned :)

Oh gawd, ladybug, I am the SAME way. I hate to have attention called to myself in ways (which isn't to say I don't like attention). At a recent board meeting, the board & staff gave me a round of applause for our new website. I shrugged it off and asked them to stop, because it was "nothing"--which is far from the truth. It was a huge pain in the ass.

But yes, I always have a habit of shrugging off compliments-- I certainly don't take them well, and I often wonder if that's because I grew up not receiving them enough? Which, to be honest, I imagine is quite true of many people. I think everyone takes them so poorly because despite being raised the "gold star for everything" generation, compliments aren't something people share enough of...

While I'm trying to grow to be more gracious about receiving compliments, this whole diatribe of a comment makes me realize that maybe we should all learn to be more gracious in receiving AND giving compliements.

I used to have a problem with compliments just like you did with Frock & Roll. I would blush and try to explain that it really WASN'T awesome. I don't do that anymore. I'm not sure what changed, but now I just say thank you and smile. I like that better.

5ft0 - For SURE. Like I said, I throw compliments around left, right and centre all day, but when it comes to taking them? Uh uh. It just doesn't seem to work! And I guess I could say that, but at the same time, complimenting someone is actually a really rather lovely deed, so I would hate to make someone feel bad for doing so or possibly stop them from dishing them out in the future to other people by saying ''you know what? Complimenting me? That makes me feel UNCOMFORTABLE.'' And besides, I suppose that at the end of the day, it's only truly my issue, and not theirs! :)

Scribbles - Yes! To be honest, it's always Tom and my friends that call me out on that sort of behaviour, too..

Alex - Oh, shite. Guilty! I KNOW I told you almost daily that you looked great last year, because you DID! Perhaps I should have thought of another way to word my opinions better? ;D

Amelia Jane - ''Thank-you, you're very kind'' - that's a fantastic way of responding to compliments!

Julie - Haha, aww. I know exactly you feel! Honestly, I remember one particular conversation in New Zealand last month where my mother was sitting there and explaining to my auntie's new partner about Frock & Roll, and he was being very sweet and asking questions and being very interested and I literally gave the shortest answers possible, before nervously laughing and changing the conversation EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. He could completely see what I was doing though, and would just keep asking me more questions, but gosh, I was DYING!

Oh man! I also get beet red and out of words when people praise my work. I try to not say anything bad but oh well... it just goes downhill.

Ha, I once 'taught' my housemate to accept compliments by saying a variation of 'Thank you, you're very kind.' So, in less formal company 'Cheers, that's nice of you' and so on. I figured it's better to say something slightly awkward but appreciative than mumble and blush and tell the compliment-er that they're wrong...which if, of course, what I do! If I'm feeling quick-witted though, I throw it right back and pick a feature of theirs to compliment, which neatly detracts all attention from me, as they mumble and stumble and blush. This can sometimes turn into compliment wars though :)

Yes! I SUCK at accepting compliments. I am that retarded that I literally *hate* them. Especially ones appearance related.

"Ohh wow you look so pretty today. That dress looks so cute" and I'm like "Ahh, no I don't. I look foul"

I feel pretty rude throwing them back when the person giving the compliment is obviously just being nice, but I honestly don't see what other people see. It's sort of hard to explain, but yeah, I'm bad at it.

Had a moment like this just last night - we were round at my friend's house waiting for the birthday girl to arrive. Everyone was looking at her professional wedding photos and one girl commented on how photogenic I was. I said "No, it's just the make-up". She insisted and I declared that another one of my friends takes photos that make me look like a hobo. SB was so mad... he told me off when we got home, said that I was beautiful and that I shouldn't put myself down when people are trying to compliment me. I need to work on accepting compliments better...

Hey Corrine!

I think it's easier to give someone a compliment - than it is to receive a compliment. I know myself when someone compliments me, I'd reply, "Ohh, but that's not true!"

In regards to personal compliments, well...I suppose the best thing to do is to approach the other person and say you felt uncomfortable when they complimented you.

It's easier said than done.