Ask any Human Resources professional and they’ll tell you that praise given correctly is a terrific motivator and morale booster. It’s an effective, no-cost way for companies to recognize employees. Marriage counselors also love praise as a way to strengthen the couple’s relationship. As long as the praise is sincere, it’ hard to imagine there being too much of it.
While it’s a great idea to look for opportunities to praise more, it’s also important that we be open to receiving praise. This tends to be harder for people, which makes the job of giving praise more difficult. I invite you to keep this in mind the next time someone pays you a compliment. Have you noticed that how much fun it is to praise someone and watch them light up? Their smile and appreciation come right back to you, don’t they? When we fail to gratefully accept a compliment, we deny the other person this joy. We miss the blessing and we thwart their efforts to be kind.
The world needs you to take what’s coming to you. Receive the compliment with grace and pleasure, and you’ll both have a better day.