How to receive praise?

Sometimes you hear compliments. A person praising you for whatever reason like your appearance, personality, attitude or any other reason. A challenge that many face hear is avoiding such compliments. Or if you hear one, you shy away or get embarrassed. Others even give the other person excuses for not deserving that compliment.

But why is that? Why is it so difficult to receive praise whole heartedly and with full of grace? Reasons could be the way you were raised, or the culture and society set-up, or we are just not used to receive positive compliments about ourselves.

To tackle this, maybe first observe your internal self-talk. What do you tell yourself daily? Are you always proving and justifying yourself? What comments do you tell yourself? If you didn’t acheive something, what do you tell yourself? If you did mistakes or fell behind deadlines, what does your self-talk look like? If you got a gift or someone praises you, what do you tell yourself in that moment? If your answers are mostly negative and harsh, then probably you need to review your self-talk.

Our internal-dialogue is in most cases the first obstacle to our ability to accept and receive with open heart.

After reviewing your self-talk and adjusting it, ask yourself: How do you want to receive praise, compliments or anything in life? Which option could be best for you when receiving? An open heart or a tightened chest? Usually our approach to receive in life affects the divine giving process. If you are internally not aware and not ready, then the blessings and life gifts would face hurdles to get to you.

At the end, we were created in this earth with love, acceptance and detailed attention. Allah have put fine details and specifics to our looks, appearance, presentation and everything. If that is the case, why wouldn’t you receive gifts or accept positive compliments when you hear them?