The magic of compliments

I recently went on a road trip to see the relatives who live out in the country. Í always love leaving the city to take a relaxing trip to the country - it is truly remarkable how different the feeling is.

For instance, you cannot walk into a shop (which admittedly is the only shop in the town, the IGA) without ten people saying 'Hello, how are going, lovely day isn't it?" to you. And those people are strangers.

When going about with my grandparents, who have lived in the country for years, they get stopped at least ten times when simply walking up the main street. They cannot do anything quickly because they stop to chat to so many people about so many things. I personally love the feel, but it does get annoying when you aren't in the mood to chat about Laura's cousin's friend who just had twins and is going to come to the local playgroup next week, or Peter's sheep who escaped the top paddock and had to be rounded up by all the farmers of the region. Nevertheless, I still love the country feel.

Anyway, the point of this story is the other day when my grandma and I were moseying about the Op-shop, I was stopped by two old ladies, probably about 80 or so years old, who grabbed the hem of my jumper and said "You look groovy!" Prior to this, I was feeling like a bushpig, no makeup, filthy hair and ridiculously tired, but after that little, rather interesting compliment, it gave me such confidence.

It can be scary giving compliments out in the city, or anywhere really. People, especially women, rarely respond well to them, and often doubt the sincerity of the comment. After all the effort you have taken to muster up the courage to comment on their hair/clothes/lipstick etc. you feel so bad about it all, but I think it is worth it, because if they are anything like me, it has made their day.

If giving compliments seems a bit to scary, try giving them out online. Beauty bloggers are friendly girls, I'm sure it would make their day if you wrote them a comment about how pretty they looks, or even how good their blog is.

I would love to know about some of the best compliments you have been given. Sometimes I think the ones given from strangers make you feel the best, because if a stranger has noticed it then it really must be good!