Paying it back

I blogged about complimenting a stranger earlier this week and yesterday a stranger complimented me!

I’ve decided it was the universe paying back the nice.

I wrote a story for Drinks Trade about what the drinks industry is doing to raise money and provide support to bushfire relief.

A woman from one of the companies I mentioned emailed me and said lots of lovely things that I feel too shy to mention.

But one thing she wrote was: “You are such an asset to our industry.”

The words were well timed – I’d barely slept earlier this week because I was so worried about not being an asset. Every now and then I get myself tangled up in knots about failing to do anything right.

Do you have an inner voice that canes you in the middle of the night for everything you’ve done “wrong” that day/week/month/year/decade?

I do.

I am getting better at rejecting its mean spirited remarks, but sometimes I succumb and decide that it’s on the money with its sniping.

I was starting to get my balance back, but still feeling a little wobbly, when I got the complimentary email.

And while I didn’t entirely believe her glowing words, it felt nice to have them bestowed upon me.

Last night I made the kids watch High Fidelity with me. Do you remember it? John Cusack owns a record store and bemoans his unluckiness in love?

Neither of the kids could make head nor tail of it. Too much dialogue, not enough action for them.

But I have a soft spot for John Cusack, so I was quite happy to curl up on the couch and watch him angst about relationships.

I liked it when he talked about the five things he loved most about his ex-girlfriend.

He said: “Top five things I miss about Laura. One; sense of humour. Very dry, but it can also be warm and forgiving. And she’s got one of the best all time laughs in the history of all time laughs, she laughs with her entire body. Two; she’s got character. Or at least she had character before the Ian nightmare. She’s loyal and honest, and she doesn’t even take it out on people when she’s having a bad day. That’s character.

“Three: I miss her smell, and the way she tastes. It’s a mystery of human chemistry and I don’t understand it, some people, as far as their senses are concerned, just feel like home.

“I really dig how she walks around. It’s like she doesn’t care how she looks or what she projects and it’s not that she doesn’t care it’s just, she’s not affected I guess, and that gives her grace. And five; she does this thing in bed when she can’t get to sleep, she kinda half moans and then rubs her feet together an equal number of times… it just kills me.”

His reasons felt very real and wonderful to me.

But it would have been even better if he’d told her all those things, not just the audience.

How good would she have felt?

Instead he told her he was “tired” of chasing a fantasy that didn’t exist, so he was ready to settle down with her.

Practical, but not quite the same feel-good buzz.

Moral to the story: don’t just think the nice things, say them. You’ll make someone’s day/week/month//year.

Catch you tomorrow.

Song of the day: Jack Black “Let’s get it on” (High Fidelity)