Can you take a compliment?

Many of us are often told we look like or resemble famous people.  Over the years I’ve been told I look like Sigourney Weaver, a young Helen Mirren and Tori Amos (that’s definitely the hair colour!) at the time I recall feeling embarrassed by the likenesses.  Who was I to be likened to such amazing glamorous and talented women?

It took a very long time for me to accept compliments without telling the compliment-giver that they were mad, wrong or blind!

As I’ve got older I’ve learned that my difficulty in accepting compliments stemmed from the poor relationship I had with myself.

How many of us treat ourselves in ways we would never treat friends, family or loved ones? The negative self-talk; “you’re so stupid” “you’re so ugly, no-one will ever want you” “you’re so fat” “no-one’s going to want to listen to what you have to say” and so it goes on.

And as we get older that negative self-talk batters our confidence and self-esteem and we end up in relationships that just reinforce our messaging.

A healthy and robust relationship starts with the relationship with have with ourselves.  Only when we recognise our own self-worth can we let others know what is and isn’t acceptable to us in intimate relationships.

More often than not, relationship problems start long before there’s a problem in the actual relationship and I work with many clients to help them create a strong, healthy and robust relationship with themselves so they can create strong, healthy and robust relationships with others. Learning to take a compliment is often one of the things we cover.

How do you handle compliments?  How do you feel when someone tells you that you remind them of someone famous?

Nowadays I love the fact that I remind people of Sigourney, Tori or Helen.  Strong, successful, talented women who look gorgeous too.  Thank you, I’ll take that!