The Importance of Being Complimentary

I think all women, maybe men too, are really unhappy with a particular part of their body or appearance. For me, it has always been my skin. I got screwed when puberty hit and now that I'm out of my 20's you might think the breakouts would stop but no. I finally feel like it's under control but nowhere near what I'd like. One of the worst things about acne-prone skin is figuring out how to conceal it without using so much makeup that you're adding to the problem. I tend to be very anti-makeup, I suck at using concealer and foundation and mostly stick to a light dusting of powder. This of course offers very little coverage, but I always figured if people were going to make fun of me, I'd rather it be for my bad skin than my inability to use makeup correctly!

Today at work, everything that could go wrong did. I was so frustrated, at one point I almost sat down in the shoe stock room for a cry. Then I pictured myself sobbing amidst boxes of boots that cost more than my entire wardrobe and decided to get the heck out of there! I headed to one of our women's departments and while I was searching for a few dresses, I got to chatting with one of the personal stylists. As I was leaving she said, "You have the most beautiful skin, I've wanted to tell you a few times but I know that's an odd thing to say." I hardly knew how to respond. I don't know this lady well but she seems to be very kind and very genuine, I was pretty sure she wasn't teasing me. I know she wasn't trying to sell me anything, and she definitely wasn't coming on to me. I was completely flustered and shocked. Didn't she see the same girl that lives in my mirrors? Was my view of myself, all these years, really that off?

For the rest of my shift, nothing that went wrong seemed to matter at all, it was just one bad shift and tomorrow will be better. Being complimented on that one trait of which I am so self-conscious turned my entire day around. I won't lie, being over 30, moving back to my parents house, going back to junior college and even starting over in a brand new line of work while pretty much all my friends are getting married and pregnant has taken a real toll on my self confidence. My lovely coworker had no idea how much I needed that ego boost, making her kind words that much more impactful.

You never know how much your words will mean to a person. I think we all need to make an effort to be more complimentary, more appreciative and more friendly to one another. I challenge each of you to  say more nice things to those around you. Whether you see it or not, you will be having a positive effect on the world and you may turn around someone's rotten day.