We are taught, by well meaning people to be sure, that when someone gives us praise such as “you are so beautiful” or “you have a knack for this” that we are to decline the praise. We are taught that it is considered egotistical to say something like “yes, I am beautiful” even though we might know it to be true. If we agree with the complement that we have a knack for something, many consider it rude to agree, but not rude to disagree. Isn’t that interesting?
When we decline a complement we must remember that our words about ourselves have power. Even though we are declining because of training, what we are saying to ourselves is “I am not worthy of being complemented.” “I am not beautiful, or I am not talented.” Why would we tell ourselves such things? You are magnificent! You are beautiful not because of what is on the outside, but what shines through from the Universe. We are talented because we allow the talents of the Universe to show through us. In essence what we are saying is that the Universe is not beautiful. We are saying the Universe does not bestow gifts on all of us, and neither statement is true.
OK, so walking around announcing to anyone who will listen that we consider ourselves beautiful may indeed be egotistical, but when someone gives us a complement about our appearance accepting that gift is not egotistical. The complement can be gracefully accepted with a polite “thank you.” If I know I have a flair for painting I can gracefully accept that acknowledgment from another person without being egotistical in the same manner.
You Are Magnificent! You bring to this planet gifts no one else has. Please do not fall into the trap of telling yourself anything less. You deserve the best.