Power of Accepting Compliments and the Gift of Positive Friendships

I had an incredible experience last week. To celebrate the birthday of an incredible friend, her sweet husband asked if we would be up for surprising her with a zoom surprise party. Fancy hats, fun backgrounds and perhaps a bit of booze, we laughed and reminisced our way through three hours. No one wanted to log off and go back to the world of adulting.

I was surprised as the truth is that I have been feeling "zoom-ed" out lately. With having virtual meetings almost daily for work and family, I was falling out of love with the digital life. Please don't get me wrong, I am extremely grateful to be able to work from home, and I love my job, honestly, but the constant meetings online were getting a little tiring. But to see those amazing women, to feel a part of an interwoven group of women whom I admire, it was like the stress literally melted away.

For those that know me very well, I am very hard on myself. I have been feeling this a lot lately. Worry about not being good enough, worry about not doing enough, worry about how to get it all done, worry about not being there for everyone, worry about making mistakes, simply put, worry that I am just not enough. I know I read somewhere that worrying about tomorrow is wasting two days and makes no difference in the end, but sometimes it is hard to feel like you are enough just the way you are.

I have friends from each of the stages in my life, whom I treasure. Over the years many have tried to give me compliments and I have always struggled with really hearing them. I have decided to change that. In fact I still felt embarrassed by hearing compliments about how they felt about me, but after we said goodbye for the night I sat there for an hour trying to let their words sink in. I do not want to ever again brush off kind words and support shown to me because I do not believe it of myself. I am making a conscious effort to try and amplify the positive voices, and quiet the negative. I accept the negative thought, but let it fade away after it has been acknowledged, and these women help me with that, without even realizing it.

It isn't always easy to find people in your life who bring you joy and light. We will always run across people who take pleasure in bringing us down or projecting their negativity on us. If I can be proud of one thing in my life, I am glad that I am learning to let that negativity flow off me like raindrops on the windshield. Then I focus on finding those people who bring light, like these women do for me. By learning to chose positive people to have in my life and by allowing myself to work on listening and absorbing their kind words, I strive to love myself a little bit more each day. The power of strong friendships is the power that can get us through the darkest of days.