I was reading something where the writer was commenting on accepting compliments. It elaborated on those who are really bad at accepting compliments, who think that acknowledging that someone else might think you were actually good at something or had done something well or that you just ~were~ good might jinx you
And I’m thinking, yeah, everybody knows that.
And then it said, “Midwesterners, I’m looking at you.”
What? Is this only Midwesterners? Is that true?
I thought everyone feared accepting a compliment because it was sure to open you up to someone (most especially yourself), saying, are you NUTS? Do you really think you did/are/produced something good?
Did this really come – along with friendliness, a willingness to help, an abiding love of the Cubs, strong practicality, and an ability to walk and drive in snow – from my Midwestern roots?
What do you say? Are you good at accepting compliments? And region are you from?
And if you started out not being good at accepting compliments and have improved in that area, how’d you do it? … And don’t you worry about jinxes?
I’ve never been good at accepting compliments. I’m from the Northeast.
One vote against “Midwesterners, I’m looking at you”
I remember either my mom or grandmothers teaching me how to accept a compliment. They said it was rude to dismiss it or try to downplay it; you just say thank you and move on. They were all central Virginia Southern (well, one was a transplanted Yooper from upper Michigan). It’s still hard to do. I don’t know if it’s a woman-thing, but what I always hear is you don’t want to seem stuck up for just implying the compliment was expected. It’s a tough world. 🙂
LOL, it is a tough world, Rowan … It’s trying to hit that tiny bull’s eye of being humble, gracious, forgetting your discomfort, focusing on the other person’s nice comment, being self-deprecating without dismissing… Yikes!