May 25, 2022.
The power we give to compliments affects the damage an insult can have on our self-esteem. Compliments and insults are verbal expressions of someone’s opinion. Whether it’s true or not, if it comes out of someone’s mouth, it’s an opinion. When we care so much about receiving compliments, it means we have mentally allocated a heavy weighting on the opinions of others.
Your opinion of yourself is most important
This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t want compliments. It also doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be happy to receive them. What is most helpful is to have your own belief system about something. If someone agrees with you then that’s a bonus. If they don’t then you won’t be bothered. Your opinion should always matter more than anyone else’s opinion of you.
A common scenario
To all my ladies, maybe this happened to you, or you witnessed this, or a friend told you. A guy tells you are beautiful and some other rosy things. You tell him that you aren’t interested and immediately he takes back what he said earlier. He might even give some insults with it. The compliments and insults are opposites yet they came out of the same person’s mouth within a short space of time. Now imagine you were overjoyed to receive the compliments and took it to heart. How will you feel when the insults are thrown at you? Remembering that compliments are opinions and your opinion matters more than anyone else’s will ensure that you are unphased by someone’s insult.
Questions of the day:
- What sort of weighting do I place on compliments that I receive from other people?
- How affected am I by insults?
Comment your thoughts and share with a friend who might benefit from reading this!