Compliments and Criticism

I, like everybody else, have had my share of compliments and criticisms. With the compliments side weighing more.  This is not about looks.

Maybe I live in delusion, but growing up I recall basking in glory and I don’t have any memory of criticism. Its either true or my memory has chosen to not dwell on it. 

I have this realization, as a mother, I appreciate my daughter for her small acts. I don’t put her down for any of the stuff I deem as wrong, but try to explain why she should not be doing it (at times I lose my patience too)

As adults we don’t appreciate each other enough for the people that we have grown up to be and for the people we might be growing up to be. But we are quick to find a fault, and most often we choose not to tell the person and maybe bitch about it.

Why?

Criticisms are not easy to give. And also there is the “perspective” factor. So what I deem as wrong maybe right for the other person.  I have received my share of criticisms, some straight on my face and some not so obvious. Have I always been receptive? No. Have I been defensive? Yes. But eventually I have been able to filter out some stuff and see that maybe a certain part of me needs some maintenance work.

But why not compliments?

Everyone likes one. We don’t appreciate our partners or our close people enough. The most compliments are about looks. But what about the characteristics we appreciate in others?  Who wouldn’t like to hear it? Maybe we have become too cynical and don’t see the good in others or we are too insecure to point it out. Or maybe we just don’t see the need to point out the obvious.

I have recently had my fair share of compliments, and I can say it makes a difference in how I feel about myself. Not that I was under any stress and needed uplift, but that simple act added so much energy to me. It adds a spring to my step and overall it lifts my spirits up. It’s a motivator.

One of the reasons, why best friends stick together, they always point out the obvious good things. Neha Pallavi do that to me and I am eternally grateful for the positive energy they keep pushing into my life.

I do compliment people around me. But I am going to ensure when I spot something that I like, I voice it. It might make a small difference to the other person.

 “I can live for two months on a good compliment” Mark Twain

My Dream Home

Dec 2014 I set out on my way to find my dream home.  Living in a new city brought with it its own confusions. Which suburb? What kind of house? We went from one extreme to another on the budget front as well.  We were a sight.

One fine afternoon, me and Nishit hired a car and went out checking out suburbs. Was that going to give us any solid evidence of how really the suburb was? No. On an instinct we hired a car and we just drove.

But I still remember the moment I drove into Caroline Springs, I fell in love.

We still haggled with a lot of suburb coices based on logic, but just could not feel the same again for any place. With not-so-technically-ideal amount of money in hand; we went about inspecting homes.

11/11/2015 - my permanent address changed to: 9 Wyperfeld Circuit, Caroline Springs

  We stopped our house hunting in April 2014, and then in Oct 2015 I had a whim to go out for a day of inspection. The last house we saw that Saturday, nothing like I would have imagined but that house possessed me. I kept going back every Saturday. That house is all I wanted since I saw it. The house still baffles me; I have rejected houses for the silliest of reasons and with this one I was ready to go for a house even with pink tiles!!!

Today I own it.  It is overwhelming. It still feels like a dream. I still am wrapping my head around the fact that this huge home, with the exact location where we wanted and the size of land we were lusting after, is my own home. My own: grateful for it.

Dreams do come true.

P.S : I changed the pink tiles