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Original poster

Compliments that have stayed with you

151 replies

HereComesTheSunBriefly · 06/05/2023 15:25

Inspired by the insults that have stayed with you thread -

Because, even though I remember insults too, I've been practising collecting compliments to try and let the insults go!

What compliment made a massive difference to you and kept you going?

OP posts:
FirstTimeNameChanger · 06/05/2023 21:13

This is so shallow but it's stayed with me:

In college (so 25 years ago) in a café with a male friend and the waitress said to me, you are very beautiful, I just had to tell you that, and my friend said to me, very seriously, that must happen to you all the time 😁

Neither one was hitting on me, and in retrospect I was beautiful in the way young women often are, but I didn't feel beautiful most of the time so that stuck with me.

highlandcoos · 06/05/2023 21:15

My DH telling me that he liked how little things made me happy. He had been at a work conference in the US, had brought me back a pen from it and I was delighted!

OllyBJolly · 06/05/2023 21:15

A neighbour told me I had “a huge heart”.

MaryDoll84 · 06/05/2023 21:24

This thread has made me feel a bit teary as I've just realised that it's been so long since I received a compliment! Need to get a grip😂About 15 years ago I was doing a counselling course and at the end we all had to write a compliment about each person in the group and put it in an envelope for them to read whenever they felt down. My course tutor wrote that I was beautiful on the inside and out. That really touched me as I was pregnant at the time and felt anything but beautiful and nobody had ever said that to me before or since.

Wotwotwotwotwot · 06/05/2023 21:28

In a pub in Edinburgh while DH and I were waiting to go to a wedding. DH went to the loo and a bloke coming out the loo looked at me, did a double take and asked "are you with him?' when I said yes, I got "wow he is punching!" 😁 I did scrub up well that day if I do say so myself 👍

Watchthedoormat · 06/05/2023 21:37

The owner of the hotel (large chain) I was working at as a chambermaid came on a visit and saw me in one of the rooms and insisted I be moved to reception as I had the face of an angel.

An old family friend told me I'd done a great job raising my children and that I should be very proud of myself.

I've been told many times by different people that I'm an over thinker.
Weirdly I take this as a compliment 😂

Rainbow1901 · 06/05/2023 21:40

In my working career I was a first aider for 40+ years and had dealt with all kinds of incidents over the years. In this particular instance I had been radioed to attend someone who was having a panic attack.
A colleague collared me the next day and said I have never seen someone so relaxed and calm with an emergency. She had called me out in a total flap as she was dealing with a stressed employee and was heading into the heebie jeebies herself because she was unable to offer assistance. She said I was amazing and totally unflappable and after 30 minutes or so had them both completely relaxed, chatting and ready to have a brew. It made my day and felt good to be appreciated.

Chooka15 · 06/05/2023 21:45

I worked as a postie around 4 years ago, a much older man was walking towards me while I was out delivering as I approached he moved to one side and said ‘you’re a movie star!’ with a flourish ❤️

ladydimitrescu · 06/05/2023 21:48

When I worked in care, one of my ladies passed away, and I had become extremely fond of her. I was pregnant when she died, her husband wrote me a letter which I have treasured and part of it said "I truly believe you were an Angel sent to earth to care for DW. She would have adored your baby as she did you, you will make the most wonderful mother". The letter accompanied a beautiful Moses basket he had purchased 😭 we weren't allowed to accept gifts but an exception was made as I was on maternity when this was dropped in, and he was so very insistent. Quite possibly the best gift I've ever received, I'll never forget them both. Makes me cry thinking about it!

trampoline123 · 06/05/2023 21:49

Nice thread!

I'm not sure of it was a compliment as such...I was just walking along pushing my baby in the pram whilst heavily pregnant and a woman walking towards me just smiled and said you're doing great. I was no doubt looking flustered or deep in thought and it really just made my day and has really stayed with me.

Scottishflower65 · 06/05/2023 21:49

That I have a mind like a steel trap.

Zola1 · 06/05/2023 21:52

Ahh so many people have said lobely things over the years.
A couple of times families in work have thanked me and told me I've made a massive difference, sometimes mums have cried when I've stopped working with them as they've said they'll miss me. A couple of teenagers have said I'm sound and they can talk to me and I get it, which is a huge compliment.
Professionally once I was meeting with a barrister I'd never used before and he said ' Zola1, its good to meet you, your reputation proceeds you, I've read a couple of your applications and they're very good'.
Once I was in a&e with my daughter and the consultant (female) came down to meet with me and when I turned round she said "wow, you are beautiful, I wasn't expecting that". So that was lovely ha.

Tessisme · 06/05/2023 21:52

When I was doing a degree with the OU, my tutor referred to me as intellectual. Just casually, when he was asking what I would do after I graduated. I'm really not - not at all - but it made me feel absolutely wonderful (and still does!)

popcornfrenzy · 06/05/2023 21:55

Was in the co-op one day picking some bread up - it was a beautiful summers days and I was in a great mood, singing to myself. A random man told me people like me make the world a better place and to keep doing what I'm doing. Really made my day as I was just being me and was going through a tough time.

Figrolls14 · 06/05/2023 21:56
  • my course at university was mostly practical but we did occasionally get asked for an essay. One particular one I really enjoyed writing and got very wrapped up in. My much-respected tutor gave me a generous mark and told me I should keep writing, write more. I was deeply chuffed.
  • I used to rush after work to get my son from his childminder, put him in a carrier on my back and take him home on the train, which we both used to enjoy. One day I was striding towards the station at about 60mph with DS bouncing along on my back, chatting away to DS, a very well turned out bloke stopped me and said ( words to the effect of, I wish I could remember properly) excuse me, but you are superb! He said it in such a straightforward, delighted way, it’s really nice to remember.
  • fruity young guy in a pub, not all that long ago: Well Fig, you are BOX FRESH”.
GreenMarigold · 06/05/2023 21:59

The other day I overheard my boss say to someone else that I needed to be in a certain meeting because I bring such energy to the room.

As someone who can feel a bit awkward and self conscious, that was a really nice thing to hear.

StrictlyAFemaleFemale · 06/05/2023 21:59

I was at uni, and was with a group, an American guy came over to talk to someone in the group he knew. When he went to leave he turned and said to me you have the MOST beautiful eyes and you should know that. I think that was the first time a man complimented me without expectation.

AmeliaEarhart · 06/05/2023 22:00

I love “titanium vagina”. That IS a fantastic compliment! 😂

When my children were and tiny I was out and about with them, I let them play in a fountain in a public park, mainly because I was too tired to say “no”. We were living abroad so no support network, and I was really struggling with an incredibly wilful toddler (who turned out to have SN) and an active baby. I was trying to get them dried and dressed into the random spare bits of clothing I happened to have on me, and a young man who had been practising his skateboarding nearby said to me “you are a very good mother”. It came out of nowhere but was exactly what I needed to hear at that moment.

Bluebells1970 · 06/05/2023 22:03

I was chatting to my Dad once about my DD who was going through a tough time with her new baby. I said to Dad I was worried about her and doing my best to support her through it. He said well she couldn't have had a better Mum herself as an example. I'll never forget that, as he was a man of very few compliments!!

Anothernamename · 06/05/2023 22:09

A work colleague recently told me that she loves to talk to me because she feels I truly listen and understand what she is saying. I really felt good about that as I feel listening is a skill and there is something lovely about being truly listened to.
I was very pleased she thought that!

RoseRobot · 06/05/2023 22:10

When DC were young I had terrible PND and thought I was absolutely useless. Once a woman came up to me when I was changing a nappy in the loos in a shopping centre and said: I've seen you around with your DC and you take such good care of them. They are so clean and you always give them healthy snacks and talk nicely to them. You're a lovely mum and they are lucky to have you.

It meant the world to me. Twenty years later, I still remember it.

Another time a librarian commented on how gently I talked to DC when lots of mums were harsh. I often felt like screaming inside so iwas quite shocked that I was hiding it so well.

TinyKittenPaw · 06/05/2023 22:11

Someone i once dated casually told me, ‘you’re so beautiful I can’t believe I’m kissing you’. I’m pretty when an effort is made but not beautiful, although i was to him in that moment and it felt so nice.

Dontlistitonfacebook · 06/05/2023 22:12

Really lovely thread!

I was leaving a workplace and a senior colleague said I'd be missed as I was such a calming presence. I'd often felt anything but that as it could be a stressful environment with risk to life. Was pleasantly surprised!

My now adult daughter was asked how she became such a feminist and she said it was down to me. Another surprise!

RopeTwist · 06/05/2023 22:15

At the beginning of my legal career I had to deal with a much older, more experienced lawyer on the other side in some tough negotiations. We reached a settlement in the end but, inevitably, it involved a compromise for my client. Afterwards he said I had real tenacity and he'd be happy to employ me in his firm if I ever thought of moving. Maybe he was just flattering a youngster but I've never forgotten it and there have been times when it's encouraged me to keep going when I've felt like giving up.

boozebarge · 06/05/2023 22:19

One of the popular girls at school told me that I looked, "stunning". I was an unpopular nerd with low self-esteem and poor body image, and it was amazing to me to hear one of the popular kids was prepared to admire me. It helped me to change my body image, for sure. Very minor but I will never forget that. I can’t even remember her name!