Remember the compliments and forget the insults. This is easier said than done. As soon as I hear a slight, or an imagined slight, I’m readying the chisel and a piece of stone so that I can etch it and drag it round with me forever. Whereas the compliments are as transient as soap bubbles. Why do I etch the negatives in stone and allow the positives to disappear, it makes no sense.
I was re-reading my illustrated journal last night and I’d realised that I’d been making a conscious effort to make a note of compliments. True to form I’d forgotten them immediately but writing them down has meant that I have recorded them in someway. Writing down the negatives also means that I am able to revisit things as I wrote them down at the time, without the later add-ons and interpretations that happen as time passes.
I should also work harder on receiving and giving compliments. I’m terrible at receiving them, I just shuffle nervously and can never think of anything to say, and I also stay just as quiet when I should be giving compliments, lots of nice things swirl around my brain but don’t seem to make it to my mouth! Hopefully the one will help the other.
The House with the Blue Door 