See that person over there? Compliment them.

Never feel awkward about paying someone a compliment…not only can it make a person feel good, but it may give them a boost they need to keep going.

The past couple weeks have been tough for me.  Everything around me that has to deal with plumbing, electricity, or a motor…seems to be breaking.  It’s been stressful to say the least.  While I haven’t been necessarily eating “terribly” – I haven’t been put the effort into “paying attention” like I was.  And for the last few nights at Zumba….I just haven’t been giving it my all.  I’ve been at roughly the same weight for about a month, and then gained 3 lbs in booze and candy weight.  I was really starting to feel discouraged after 10 months….I was worried that I was starting to wind down.

Yesterday I said under no circumstance would I eat ANY Halloween candy from anywhere, and I would not have a drink after work, which for some reason has been delightful lately.  I got home from work, toasted a bagel, drank some water, and changed into my Zumba clothes.  As I changed I looked in the mirror and was annoyed with myself.  Then I went to the studio.  I was standing there waiting for class to start and one of the other girls who is a regular in this class came up to me and said “Have you been losing weight?”  I said “I have….I’m down 45 but I’ve been stuck here for a long time and I need to snap out of this” and she said “that can be hard…but I can tell you’ve been losing”.  She, herself, has lost 83 lbs!!!  

And that’s all it took.  I gave it my all last night and sweated like crazy….and went to bed feeling amazing….AND….the scale was rewarding this morning by dropping my 3 lbs of Halloween sabotage weight.  Now to keep going so I can just get to 50!!!!  My point is…I knew I’d lost weight….but I’d been stuck for so long, that I couldn’t see it anymore….and then this sweetheart of a girl pointed it out and it gave me back my drive to keep going!  Not like I was going to quit, but my attitude was definitely shifting.

Not that long ago this happened to me again (well I guess it was the first time).  I’m on dating websites.  One day I was feeling particularly bad about this weight loss plateau….and I got a message from a guy who said “I saw you at the Flame.  You are so beautiful”.  Now…people compliment your pictures online and come on….we always use our BEST pictures online, right?  So normally I wouldn’t really think much of that….but he saw me….in person….candidly.  I even responded “when did you see me?”  and he said “the weekend before last…you were sitting at the bar”.  Dead on.  Yes I was.  I was so flattered that someone saw me candidly, while I wasn’t “sucking in” or standing upright with perfect posture, etc…I was just lounging with a pal (who is stunningly gorgeous by the way) and he took notice.  It made me feel wonderful – and again…pulled me out of the funk.

That said, we are truly the only ones who can make ourselves feel better.  But when you see that someone has worked hard for something and you take notice….tell them.  Whether it be their body, their yardwork, their cooking, their smile, their job, their writing, how well their children behave, tell them.  Sometimes people just need some encouragement.  It’s not selfish…it’s being human.  Sometimes I think people are so concerned with how their kindness will be perceived…that they forget how it feels to be noticed.  Take the risk of sounding flirty or “sucking up”.  You’ll make someone’s day.