“Your hair looks great today!”
“I love your shoes, where did you get them?”
“Thank you so much, you were so helpful. I hope you have a great day!”
These are just some of the things people have told me that have made my whole day. Just a simple sentence or two can change someone’s whole outlook on their day. This feeling is something I appreciate and wish to share with others; this is why I always try to give compliments to anyone when I get the opportunity.
Ever since I was younger, I had always had an ability to sense people’s emotions and how they were feeling based on body language, tone when speaking, etc. To this day, I always want to make people feel good about themselves. I’ve never understood the concept of tearing someone down to make yourself feel better. Why would I be mean or rude to someone when I have no reason to be? To me, it’s not funny or edgy to be unkind to someone in a simple conversation, whether you know them or not. People take things personally, even when they shouldn’t. In fact, I am one of those people. Interacting with those who have made me feel lesser of myself has only fueled my compassion and kindness towards others, strangers or not.
Words are extremely powerful, whether they come out positively or negatively. Often, they can change the course of our day, but they have the power to change your entire mindset. One example for myself was actually this semester, one of my friends that I made here at school had a conversation with me that really made me feel like I was doing something right. She had a friend group that she was a part of last semester that didn’t treat her very well, and we would often get lunch and would talk about it or anything else on our minds. I never talked bad about her friends, but I felt for her because in high school I had dealt with a similar situation. She ended up separating herself from that group and has now become one of my closest friends. We were talking about our lunches with my friends the other day and she said, “Olivia, I hope you know that those lunches were the highlight of my semester. I was so unhappy, but you always made me feel better and appreciated each time we hung out, and I’ll never forget that.” To me, this is one of the biggest compliments I could have possibly received. To know that I made her feel better about herself and helped her through a hard time made me feel like I was doing something right.
I try to give at least three compliments a day: one to a friend, one to a stranger, and one to myself. I want my friends to know that I love and appreciate them. I hope that I can make someone’s day a little better even if I don’t know them, and I want to love and appreciate myself. With all the kindness we put out into the world, it is important to give some of that back to ourselves. I would like to be remembered by those whose lives I have touched in a positive way, and I hope I am doing a good job at that. Knowing I could change someone’s life with a few kind words is something powerful and positive that I will continue to take advantage of.
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