In my book Think Believe Receive I relate that one of the most difficult things we are asked to do is to accept gifts. These gifts may be gift wrapped, or verbal. They may even be things we have wanted for some time, and yet we turn them away.
Even after writing about this in my book I found myself confronted by a dear friend who had just given me a compliment. He said “Brian, you do not receive compliments well.” Needless to say I was flabbergasted. A compliment is another form of a gift, a verbal recognition of our accomplishments. It is no less a gift than a coffee maker, or a watch, or a pile of cash, and here I was being told I did not accept gifts graciously. Isn’t that interesting?
I have come to believe the reason for this tendency is the underlying thought which says it is somehow self-centered to accept a gift. We are not diminished by accepting gifts, we are not selfish in accepting gifts, gifts are a way we honor each other. The fact is, for a gift to be a gift, there must first be a giver, and almost as importantly, there must be a receiver of the gift.
Perhaps that is why I wrote the second book, It’s All About Me, in an attempt to overcome this idea that gifts, be they verbal or physical, in anyway diminish us as receivers, and if they seem to diminish us, well, It’s All About You!
Take a look at these books and see if you can become a better receiver, and allow the gift.
