The Most Unexpected Compliment I Ever Got

Here's the 6th suggestion from Oprah's site that every woman should write down:

The most unexpected compliment you ever got.

Compliments. This is an area of discomfort for this empty nester. And it has always been that way.

I do not have any trouble handing out compliments. I do it daily. Multiple times. I only hand them out when they are warranted but I work with so many wonderful folks and our students are so amazing, that I find myself handing out compliments left, right, center and every other way imaginable. This is not difficult.

Accepting a compliment, on the other hand, is not easy for me. I don't like to be acknowledged and I always prefer to be in the background. Behind stage as opposed to center stage. Compliments in my direction make me uncomfortable.

When I am complimented, I say thank you and try to end the conversation ASAP. Inside, I'm dying to move on. I don't want to acknowledge the compliment. I don't want to discuss it further. I don't want to ever again do anything that may cause that person to send another compliment my way.

I know when I've done my best. I know when I'm doing my job well. I know when I've accomplished something. I know when I've had a good idea. I don't want to be singled out and held up as an example. Which is just the thing that happens with some compliments.

Like the cyberbullying newsletter I put out to our parents last year at school. The principal went nuts and sent it out all over the place, I was mentioned in the superintendent's weekly letter and our district superintendent came to a faculty meeting to acknowledge my efforts and make a presentation.

I nearly died.

Unexpected? To say the least! Deserved? No. I wanted our parents to be aware of cyberbullying and so I put it out there. That's it.

I think I just have a problem with being gracious when I don't see the need for the accolade.

Do y'all have trouble accepting compliments? What was your most unexpected one?