Can you take a compliment?

On my walk this morning I passed a beautiful cottage garden in which a gentleman was busy tending to. I stopped to tell him how much I admired his garden and he thanked me and then immediately pointed out the weeds, overgrown areas and how he should be doing more. We chatted some more before I continued on my walk.

What made me feel sad was how his face had lit up with genuine thanks when I spoke to him but how quickly he focused on what he felt was negatives of his beautiful garden. It made me think how often do we receive something good only to mar it by minimising or dismissing the compliment, putting ourselves down, criticising ourselves or feeling as if we ‘should’ do more.

If this is something you do I wonder what it would be like to fully accept the compliment, let it rest with you for a while, feed you, celebrate you and brighten your day?