Yesterday I read a post by my friend Jessica (aka The Debt Princess) about learning to graciously accept gifts. Jessica discussed, in depth, how difficult it is to accept gifts from people but sometimes, we have to swallow our pride and accept that others do nice things for us (and our kids). I related to that post a lot because I massively struggle with accepting favors and gifts. I always feel that there’s an expectation attached to the nice gesture because I can’t believe that people want to do nice things for me. I mean, why? What do they want from me in return? And what if I can’t do what they need? Questions like this pepper my mind for days before I say yes or no. Then the anxiety shame spiral begins and I go to the dark place.
There’s a line in today’s Money Tune “I’ll accept with poise, with grace. When they draw my name from the lottery”. Although I’m not really sure how it relates to money, I think this is good advice. It’s definitely something I need to practice (graciously accepting gifts. And compliments. It’s not that I’m rude about it per se. It’s just that I don’t think I deserve them). Because even though I may not believe I deserve something, someone else might. And it’s kind of rude to throw it in their face.
While I know this song isn’t necessarily about money, I really like it. I’m including it because sometimes we need to take a break from all this money talk and focus on something else, even if it’s only for a few minutes. So sit back and enjoy “Big Casino” by Jimmy Eat World (fun fact: I love this song so much it used to be my ringtone. Then I got a new phone. Now my ringtone is “Audience of One” by Rise Against. So I guess that’s two fun facts for you. Or one fact plus a bonus fact. Which still equals two. Okay. To the music!)
I have never described myself as being poised and I probably never will but I’m doing my best to work on the grace part. Never expected it to come in the form of accepting a helping hand.
Thanks for the mention.
Jessica, The Debt Princess recently posted…Being a Graceful Receiver: It’s More Than a “Thank You”