Why the eyes of others see you more clearly - understanding compliments.

Isn't it nice when someone compliments you? When a coworker emphasizes your strengths or when a parent praises you for your achievements. When your significant other explains how much they love you, for you, and tells you exactly why. I would say that strangers especially, as well as the loved ones around you, see what you are so afraid of seeing. They simply see what you are putting out into the world and who you are with no other over-complication.

A natural reaction after receiving a compliment is to stay humble and brush it off. How come it has become so normalized to push your strengths aside? Or worse, not to praise them or develop them any further. I bet that you have some amazing qualities that you might not even be aware of. Those qualities that shined bright when you were a child, at a time when it felt beautiful to be proud of who you were. At a time when you didn't identify with all the failures you had and simply learned to move on, you had innocence and curiosity that kept you going. That's literally what life should be. Those strangers who have seamlessly complimented you on whatever it might have been can only see the you right now. They don't know your story or where you came from. They also don't understand what you have been through, how many times you have failed, and the amount of self-doubt you carry. Everyone around you is a powerful tool as well as a reflection and extension of you.

I can endlessly go on about how much we can learn if we start listening and observing the essence of others. The simplicity, the stories others have to tell, the lessons, the perspectives, the knowledge is never-ending. As there is no wrong or right perspective for anyone to have, I'm sure what they compliment you on has deep truth within it. If there is truth to it, you will feel a connection, as if someone is looking into the mind of yours. Those are the compliments you should take notice of, the ones that fuel your confidence and make you feel suddenly seen. I'm not asking you to wait until someone compliments you to feel like you've got something. Once again, everyone around you is a powerful tool that can help you understand yourself deeper.

If someone can simply meet the current version of you and start to see positive attributes and qualities, imagine if you could do the same. If you try to let go of your thoughts about the future and the past (which do not exist) and simply focus on the current you, what can you start to see? Do you like the way you show up in this world? Are you staying true to yourself? Are you kind to others? Maybe you're an interesting person who's constantly learning. If others can notice beautiful things about the you right now, maybe that's the only version that exists. Praising yourself for staying authentic and true is underrated, praising yourself for how you're showing up in this world when you don't even want to is an important step to self-belief. Most of your worries, if not all, belong in the past or the future.

Come back to yourself, to the present moment. Take notice of your strengths and keep developing them. Use them to your advantage and do not shy away from them again.