In and amongst the multitude of positive and negative/constructive comments I received in the feedback stage of “The Devil and Casari: Ad Hominem,” I was also blessed by several outstanding compliments that flat out made me blush.  While these were being delivered, I did my best to nod and smile (albeit verbally, since most everything was over the “phone”) and say thanks, but all the while on the inside I was churning with fear. Was this for real?  Would someone really want to see this book on their mantle, or was that something just nice to be said to someone who had done so much hard work on a project?  I know…and I mean I KNOW…that the compliments were/are sincere, but that massively insecure past of me continues to scream that it was all a lie, that someone was just being nice, that they didn’t really mean it, and on and on and on.

Giving sincere compliments is a joy, so why is it receiving them is so hard?  What’s wrong with me that my first response to a compliment its to self-deprecate?  Seriously?!

Example:
You: Nice haircut.
Me: Thanks, I got tired of spending money.

See, mocking myself already. As it should be.  Enough about me, though; I’d like to hear from you instead.  How do you take a compliment?  Do you say something nice in return, do you self-loathe and mock, do you smile and stay silent, what?  Comment below, leave something on my Facebook post, whatever, but I’d love to hear just how you react when someone says something nice about you or your work. 

If I like it, I might even compliment you just to see it in action.