The difference a compliment can make

You'd be surprised

This past week was overwhelming.

My coworkers were both on vacation, so I was flying solo at the newspaper office putting together all eight pages of news by myself.

Usually I just make the front two pages of the newspaper, which is the main local news, obituaries, police reports, weather, etc. This time, however, I was responsible for those two pages plus the local community events page, the opinion page and three pages of sports (and one page of court news on Saturday).

I had my own mini-vacation planned for this weekend, having bought tickets to the Inkarceration music festival from Friday to Sunday. I was hoping to attend all three days of the festival, but I missed the first day because I didn’t manage my time well enough and I was still wrapping things up making Saturday’s newspaper on Friday.

To say it was stressful was an understatement.

And my mini-vacation didn’t get off to the best start. I had every reason to be miserable at the festival. It poured rain for parts of day one and two, turning the festival grounds at the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield into a mud pit. It was a muddy, murky mess. Vehicles were getting stuck in the parking lot. People just were trying to enjoy themselves were covered head to toe in grimy muck. It was rough.

But then something amazing happened.

I’d been on my feet for a day and a half, having just watched one of my favorites bands Nothing More perform a full set of their biggest hits when I decided to take a breather. There wasn’t much seating at the festival and the ground wasn’t exactly dry, so my best available option was a curb along a path outside the prison.

I was sitting there, zoning out, looking at my phone tired and worn out, almost fading into and out of consciousness when I was awoken from my daze with some kind words.

It was a fellow festival attendee. She said she liked my shirt (I was wearing a festival T-shirt from Sonic Temple 2023). We got to talking and then she said I had “beautiful eyes” and that I seemed really cool and then she asked for phone number.

I was blown away.

I don’t know if everyone knows this, but men aren’t used to receiving compliments.

When I’m hanging out with my friends, we’re much more likely to use insults as a way to greet each other. There’s nothing malicious behind it. That’s just how guys act. If you’re not getting made fun of, you’re not part of the crew. I’d be worried something was wrong if they weren’t insulting me.

And I think most female friends try to avoid compliments because they’re worried that anything positive they say to a man — even just a friend — could imply romantic intention and be perceived the wrong way.

I’ve read that some men can go years without receiving a random compliment.

I think that’s what made Sunday so special.

To be honest, I’ve been kind of floating on clouds ever since.

I don’t always have the best sleep, but I slept like a baby Sunday night when I got home from the festival. And ever since waking up, I’ve been motivated to take care of some of the little things that I’ve been letting slide for the past few weeks. I cleaned my room, changed the sheets of my bed and I even loaded all the boxes of cardboard into my car that I’ve been meaning to recycle for the past month.

I’ve been known to self medicate with delicious food, grabbing some ice cream from Dairy Queen if I’ve had a rough day, but the temptation today has been completely non-existent. I stuck to my diet all weekend and haven’t even thought about eating anything sweet.

I’m motivated to actually get outside and go for a walk at the reservoir or the park. Hell, I’m already planning to get back to the gym tonight after I’m done at the newspaper office.

Even at work, I’m brainstorming story ideas, following up with leads, trying to help solve problems. I really feel like I’ve been making a difference today.

I know it won’t last forever, but I hope this feeling never goes away. I’ve never felt so productive.

It’s a wonder the difference a random compliment can make.