Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Women Friendships - Part 13

A Friend Gives Sincere Compliments

Be liberal with praise for all of your friends, including casual ones. There is some genuine compliments you can pay anyone once you get in the habit of searching for those compliments.

Praising friends is an excellent way for a shy person to make contact. When a shy person is walking to greet another person, she is usually thinking about herself and dreading the contact. If she walks toward the other person finding something to compliment, she will have a hard time keeping her attention on herself.

Again, we are not talking about the insincere compliments of the manipulators of the world. That grows old quickly.

We are referring to genuine praise for a person you admire.
If you were fortunate enough to have a grandparent, a teacher, or an older friend who took an interest in you as you were growing up, you probably understand the power of affirmation very well. That person who sought out the best in you certainly had a strong effect on your life.
You can have a strong effect on any friend's life by looking for things in them to praise and then being generous with that praise.

As your friend walks to meet you, smile, and think of a sincere compliment. This is particularly helpful for shy people.

2 comments:

Romany said...

Oh you are so right. I know how it lifts my whole day if someone seeks me out to say something kind. It costs so little, yet it has such a big effect.

Dorothy

Emily said...

I use this on my kids too. I always try to find something positive to say before I bring forth the negative . . . :-)