In college I went to the airport over holidays for break to return home. Back when it was only cabs and mostly cash. I was short a couple bucks to the cabbie and he was such a kind man he covered me. He also wanted to make sure I would be alright and offered to spot me a few bucks even. That was really such a nice thing to do.

My car once got a flat in kinda a seedy metro area and I was scared out of my mind. This was pre cell phone days. A car stopped full of juvenile boys to lend me a hand to change my tire. I was lucky but so kind of these boys.

I was returned my lost wallet with cash still inside 3x in my life. Not a lot of cash but it's still amazing. I've never lost a wallet without it being returned to me even if months afterward.

I find people to be kind v that I have exceptional luck. I've always felt that way.

I have 3 that have really stuck with me.

I was playing an ice breaker game with a room of colleagues where they say "who is most likely to..." and everyone answers anonymously. The question was "who is most capable of making something wonderful out of nothing" and it was the only time the responses were unanimous, everyone had said me.

After college I was a nanny for a year. The family live in a beautiful $2M home. I lived in an almost entirely original 1962 time capsule. The family's home was under construction for a few weeks so I cared for the kids at my house instead. We made cookies, built forts, played hide and seek, had dance parties, made floor beds for movie night. When their house was done and their mom said we'd switch back to being there everyday, the kids both started sobbing and said they wanted to keep coming to mine because they hated their house and that mine was magical.

Just a few weeks ago I took my kids to an MLB game. In the 8th inning, the lady behind me tapped me on the shoulder and said she could hardly watch the game because she was too busy watching what a great parent I was. She said "watching you parent makes me feel the same as my grandmother did" and she was probably in her 70s herself. I actually just lost my grandma 2 weeks prior so we had a nice little cry together at the ballpark.

What a nice thing to think about also thank you.

Perhaps a lawyer telling me that it was good to know that people like me exist because he could become very jaded in his line of work.

Or maybe young patient’s families telling my former employer that I helped them to get through terrible experiences.

Or maybe friends telling me that they regard me as a true friend.

But I don’t know - genuine compliments cannot be placed into arbitrary hierarchies of kind words.

I value all kind words that reflect well on genuine connections and experiences.

Anonymous wrote:I come from a somewhat emotionally abusive family and tried very, very hard not to pass along all that dysfunction to my 3 sons, who are now young adults. While I know I made my share of mistakes in raising them, they've all told me they had happy childhoods and would raise their kids the way they were raised.
How grateful I am that they don't understand the sorrow of being an only child whose parents, for as long as I can remember, didn't talk to me for days or weeks on end for some unknown or unpredictable transgression.

I am sorry your parents sucked. You broke the cycle of dysfunction, which is amazing. Believe what your kids tell you. You are a great parent.

Stranger straight up told me I had sexy legs.

Am man.

One of my direct reports told me I was the kind of boss she liked because she was not afraid to fail in front of me. She knew I would help her solve any problem and support her even if she did.

These make my heart happy. A great reminder to pass it forward too; you never know the impact a small remark can have on someone.

For me it’s the specific ones. When I was an insecure junior staffer in my first job it was a client remarking about a report I wrote- that it was so refreshing to read something well written! I was dumbfounded because I assumed all professionals could write well (ha!) and this was a top medical organization. But so nice to have someone point out a specific skill.

Someone, whose first language was not English, told me “your mother, she loves you too much!” He meant “so much” but it has always stuck with both of us because we do love each other so much and are very close!

I come from a somewhat emotionally abusive family and tried very, very hard not to pass along all that dysfunction to my 3 sons, who are now young adults. While I know I made my share of mistakes in raising them, they've all told me they had happy childhoods and would raise their kids the way they were raised.
How grateful I am that they don't understand the sorrow of being an only child whose parents, for as long as I can remember, didn't talk to me for days or weeks on end for some unknown or unpredictable transgression.

I’ve gotten compliments on my looks my entire life, including being told I was the prettiest girl in the sixth grade by an older girl who I admired. However, the best compliment I’ve received was that I was the most intellectually stimulating person the compliment giver had ever met. He said he learned something new every time he spoke to me.

I am the OP and really enjoyed reading these. I'm going to make it a goal to give one really well-deserved compliment to someone this week.

There are so many good people out there and I am certain all the compliments received were valid recognition. Thanks to everyone who has shared and welcome to anyone else who would like to post. Your compliments brightened my day.

Many strangers have told me I am beautiful, but when I was a kid I was taunted and bullied for my odd appearance. I needed kindness.

I was a sympathetic ear to a college friend who had gone through a series of unexpected and unfortunate events right around the time we were graduating. This was long before the advent of cell phone and social media so we would just talk on the phone. He managed to overcome the rough patch and sent me a note thanking me for “being an island of sanity in an ocean of madness”.

I'm a teacher. I had a student my first year teaching who told me he only came to school because of me.

He had a very very difficult home life and was failing most of his classes, but by golly did he work his ass off in my class. I'm so proud of him.

An exboyfriend who had been through a lot of probs incl jail time came to me after he got his life in order, married, happy and thanked me for being such a kind person in the world.