Compliments and Kindness

Today someone told me I am a ROCK STAR! I love being told I'm a rock star. It's my favorite compliment.  It means I am the best at what I do; I am idolized; I am loved. Getting compliments is such a mood booster.

My favorite compliment of all time was being told I looked ravishing. The giver was a boy who had a crush on me and it was the first time he ever saw me in a dress. He said it with so much heart and feeling.

I've been trying to remember the best compliment I've ever given. I know I've told people they were smart or gorgeous, artistically or musically talented, prolific gardeners or articulate writers. I don't know if I've ever told anyone they were a rock star, but I did tell someone she was a goddess. I wonder if any of my compliments were memorable?

Yesterday I was conversing with a man and his wife in a grocery line. They let me go in front of them as I only had three items. They only had about five items so we volleyed back and forth, "Oh, no you go first." Then the man offered to pay for my groceries. I looked at him and said with disbelief, "REALLY?" He laughed and we began a conversation about kindness and how even a tiny bit of kindness goes a long way, often remembered for years.

I shared my story of watching someone half asleep drop a $100 bill without noticing. It would have been so easy to swoop down on that money. I was poor, too, and that made it twice as tempting. Instead I got in front of him and asked how he was doing. He mumbled incoherently, probably wondering why this very strange girl had anything to smile about at five in the morning. Then I said very casually, "Did you drop something?" He looked at me with confusion, then looked down at his $100 bill. I never saw anyone wake up so fast in my life. "OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! THANK YOU! THANK YOU SO MUCH!"  I could tell he was just as poor as I was and really grateful I was more awake than he at that ungodly hour.

 

Me as Goddess of Honesty

I ran into him several times after this incident and each time he would exclaim loudly to anyone within hearing that I was the most honest person in the universe.  I bet he still thinks about that day and his encounter with the Goddess of Honesty.  That memory has made my list of top twenty all time great feel-good moments. Being called honest and the joy born of my kindness was worth far more than the $100 I might have gained by not being honest.

Kindness is good.  So often while struggling with our illness we forget about kindness, accepting it and giving it. It's a mood booster. So, let's pay it forward. Compliment someone today. I'm going to!

What are your favorite compliments of all time?
                                                              
 

What are the best compliments you have given?

What are your memories of kindness?

What are your top feel-good moments of all time?