Thanks to Jigsaw, a youth mental health charity, today is Ireland’s first ever “National Compliment Day”.

Research shows a compliment lifts the mood of both the person receiving it and the person giving it.

As corny as this sounds, I love giving compliments.  It can make someone feel good but more often than not, it is also a lift to my day. The compliment I have given usually comes as a result of something that person has said, or done, which has in turn put a smile on my face, or made me feel good.

I love the idea of this day but the thing is, it is not giving compliments that I need help with, it is accepting them that I find a problem.

When a compliment is given to me, I feel a bit like Wonder Woman, in that I metaphorically feel my wrists go up and I am flinging the compliment off of me, like she does bullets. My toes also start to curl, my face goes pink and my mouth is blasting off all of the reasons why that compliment should be directed elsewhere.

I know it’s odd to say this, given the career I’ve chosen, but I don’t like being in the spotlight. I like shining the light on others (maybe it does make a little sense as I love being the interviewer, not the person being interviewed). Taking a compliment feels just like that I suppose, like I am under the spotlight. Does that mean I think I don’t deserve the spotlight? Not necessarily, but, sometimes it does make me feel uncomfortable.

I have always been good at taking on criticisms, or “harsh realities”, but taking a compliment seems to knock me about. I think this has something to do with growing up with brothers who were always quick to throw about the “banter” so I never dared get “a big head”. This “banter” had me develop a thick skin. I always thought this was good training for the real world. Thing is, as a result, I now I have the thickest skin. So thick that even compliments struggle to get in!

I love watching my twelve year old daughter taking a compliment. She never baulks at it. She never tries to pass it onto someone else. She merely accepts it. Her response is either, “thank you” or “I know right” and she feels so good about this interaction.

In days gone by, she would have been told not to be so egotistical. Deflect that. But accepting a compliment has nothing to do with ego. She is just allowing herself to shine and soak up that sparkle.

So on this compliment day, let’s not only give the compliment. Allow yourself to take it; feel it; and say thank you.

• – Sarina Bellissimo