We all love to get compliments.

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It feels good to hear others speak kindly about us.

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Yet sometimes there is a challenge to it.

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We can have difficulty receiving the compliment.

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Especially when it is about a part of us we don't feel very good about.

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No matter what other people say, we just can't feel it ourselves.

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Perhaps we don't feel as good looking or pretty as they say.

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Maybe we just can't connect with the idea that we're smart, capable or wise.

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It can be hard to take in such compliments when we are not used to them or feel we haven't earned them.

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A lot fo it may come down to early childhood experiences.

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If we were never complimented by our parents, then how can we be good?

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When we are used to being told we can do better, how can we feel that we actually have done better?

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No matter what anyone else says, we have to feel it.

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We might momentarily acknowledge the compliment, and then immediately move on to something else.

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Or we could ignore the compliment altogether.

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For if we don't truly feel it in our body, our mind can not register it.

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Our nervous system can't process the compliment.

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No matter how many times we hear it, it does not matter.

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So how do we learn to let in these compliments we cannot feel?

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The first step to wait.

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Do not respond right away.

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Just take a moment and try to feel it.

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The more awareness we bring to hearing the compliment, the better chance we have of actually letting it in.

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It might not happen the first time.

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Or the second time.

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But if we stick with the practice, eventually we will start to feel it a tiny bit.

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And then more.

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We can also use some physical cues to help us to receive the compliment.

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Like putting your hand over your heart.

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And take a moment.Then try saying "Thank You."

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By taking time to acknowledge the compliment you give your body time to feel it.

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Even if you can't feel it in the beginning, with practice you will.

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The more space we give ourselves to feel something, anything, the more likely we are to actually feel it.

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So over time, with patience and practice, we will feel those compliments.

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Even if they seem hollow and untrue in the beginning.

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If people keep telling you that you are good, handsome, smart, dependable, then they are reflecting something back to you that they see clearly.

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Even if we don't.

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So we can all practice giving more space to the moment when someone pays us a compliment.

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And one day when we say "Thank You" we will really mean it.

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So when have you been paid a compliment and truly taken it in?

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Can you give more space when someone says something nice about you to really feel it and take it in?

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~ Sam Liebowitz, The Conscious Consultant

Host of The Conscious Consultant Hour