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lessons from a two year old
May. 24th, 2010 01:42 pmWhenever we tell Rhyan, the 2 year old Niece Child, "Rhyan, you're cute!" she replies with one of two things, either "I know!" or, more recently, "Thank you!" Her "Thank you!" though is in the same tone as her "I know!" It's as if she's saying "Yes, I know I'm adorable. Thank you for acknowledging what I already know is true about the awesomeness of me!"
And this got me thinking. Why is it that a two year old, when given a compliment, KNOWS that what she was just told was absolute truth, and can respond with a grateful, yet completely confident "thank you," but as adults we seem to lose the ability to handle compliments both with that kind of grace, and, more importantly, with that kind of inherent KNOWING? Why when I'm told I'm beautiful or smart or doing a good job or whatever awesome part of me is being acknowledged by the outside world, my initial reaction is to rush to a disclaimer, "but my butt is too big," or "but my hair looks horrible today," or "but so and so is smarter" or "but it really wasn't that big of a deal" or whatever it is that my mind comes up with instead of a simple "thank you," that's weighted with the knowledge that I am indeed beautiful/smart/capable/AWESOME! and that I'm thankful that this person has acknowledged what I already know as true about my awesomeness? I want to learn to handle compliments like Rhyan does!
So, I'm thinking a good way to start this week is to practice this! Who's with me? Let's play You're Cute!!! Leave a comment and I'll give you a compliment. You respond with "I know! Thank you!" But before you respond, take a second to really KNOW that you are indeed AWESOME! Then, if you're so inclined, you can leave me a compliment so I can practice too!
Before we know it, we'll all be precocious two year olds who KNOW exactly how amazing we all are! Yay! *g*
And this got me thinking. Why is it that a two year old, when given a compliment, KNOWS that what she was just told was absolute truth, and can respond with a grateful, yet completely confident "thank you," but as adults we seem to lose the ability to handle compliments both with that kind of grace, and, more importantly, with that kind of inherent KNOWING? Why when I'm told I'm beautiful or smart or doing a good job or whatever awesome part of me is being acknowledged by the outside world, my initial reaction is to rush to a disclaimer, "but my butt is too big," or "but my hair looks horrible today," or "but so and so is smarter" or "but it really wasn't that big of a deal" or whatever it is that my mind comes up with instead of a simple "thank you," that's weighted with the knowledge that I am indeed beautiful/smart/capable/AWESOME! and that I'm thankful that this person has acknowledged what I already know as true about my awesomeness? I want to learn to handle compliments like Rhyan does!
So, I'm thinking a good way to start this week is to practice this! Who's with me? Let's play You're Cute!!! Leave a comment and I'll give you a compliment. You respond with "I know! Thank you!" But before you respond, take a second to really KNOW that you are indeed AWESOME! Then, if you're so inclined, you can leave me a compliment so I can practice too!
Before we know it, we'll all be precocious two year olds who KNOW exactly how amazing we all are! Yay! *g*
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