Monday Mitzvah: Surprise Someone with a Compliment

“Everybody likes a compliment” Abraham Lincoln

For the last two months I have had an obsession. There is an ugly, dry patch of dirt in front of my house that I have been determined to make bloom. I performed a guerrilla gardening mission on my own property. However, it did not immediately take. From my front window I could see big black crows picking the seeds from the ground and it seemed like every morning there was a new mole hole. The ground had so many lumps that it looked like there was subterranean mole condo complex.

My water tolerant wildflower garden has been a Zen exercise for me. There is no way to speed up the growth and there is no way to guarantee a blossom. I have had to patiently protect and nurture the little buds as best as possible and hope for the best.

Today as I was conducting my morning ritual of examining my little plot to see if there was any progress overnight, one of my neighbors, who is not exactly the friendliest woman in the world, stopped to talk to me. In the four years I have lived near her, we have probably had only one or two brief conversations. She generally avoids eye contact on her daily walks down the street. Today was different. She stopped next to me, looked me in the eye and said, “Your garden is really coming along.” My heart swelled with delight. With that one little compliment she totally made my day. That was the end of our conversation but that was all it needed to be. I felt honored, acknowledged and appreciated. She gave me a gift.

For our Monday Mitzvah this week let’s do a true guerrilla good deed and give someone a sincere compliment. Take a moment to appreciate something positive about someone. The best kind of compliment is like the one my neighbor gave me. It is a compliment that is based on something personally meaningful to the recipient. A compliment about something superficial such as looks or something about which the person doesn’t have any control is less meaningful. Step outside of yourself and notice what is important to those around you. By simply acknowledging what is true and important to someone you will deepen relationships, bring happiness and do a good deed.

This week’s good deed is about connecting honestly and directly with another human being and acknowledging a positive truth about them. This is a powerful way to help the world. The more we connect the better we all feel which lifts the consciousness of the entire planet.

Let us know what happens this week as you give your surprise compliments.