Would you like a gag with that compliment?

Receiving a compliment is weird. It's kind of positive, but it's also kind of negative in one sense. While I like to think I'm quite good at accepting compliments, (not because I'm vain, or think the person is right in what they say) but purely because I think sometimes, it's better to accept a compliment, than deny it and somewhat publicly humiliate the complimenter by throwing it back in their face. Its like, that just isn't very polite. I also feel that if I deny a compliment, someone might actually take offense and feel that I'm being weird and stand-offish, when that wouldn't actually be the case.

Meanwhile, refusal to accept a nice remark or comment made by someone, whether it be a friend, relative or stranger, can actually make you question yourself further. Someone recently told me they thought I was pretty, and I immediately jumped up, defensively, and shrugged off their compliment, when deep down I could have (and should have) just smiled and realised that actually it was a nice comment coming from a nice place. While this person was complimenting me, I was going over and over in my head listing the things that were, in my opinion, wrong with myself, both internally and externally, and why, in my opinion, this comment was not fitting for little old me. Compliments are sometimes back-handed, yet this is unintentional. Cue a Mean Girls quote: "Oh my god, I love your bracelet, where did you get it?" and shrink back with disdain and hatred we collectively share for arch-nemesis and ultimate bitch, Regina George. What about these: "Is your hair different, it looks nice" makes you think "does it look a mess usually?" "Have you lost weight?" Is that a hint that you probably need to shed a few pounds? A comment on your physical appearance makes you feel analysed and subjected, and yet happy/sad/worried at the same time. I don't ever think I've had bundled of self-confidence, but every so often, there will be peaks and troughs, just a everyone has.

When someone comments positively about me, maybe I don't believe them because previously, someone who has said the same or a similar thing, turned out to be lying/not really bothered/not who I thought they were, so maybe their judgement isn't to be trusted. Am I afraid of what the compliment means, in both surface meaning and deeper meaning? Yes. What if someone I like tries to flatter me and I turn all gullible and believe every word they breathe in my presence, then later turn out to have been taken for a ride, and end up looking stupid and foolish. Yet another reason to avoid accepting and believing compliments. An outfit praise, a "thin" comment or a realisation that my hair is different to what it was yesterday can all spark the same gut-wrenching reaction. We jerk backwards. We recoil. We hide away from the positives and seemingly attract the negatives like magnets. It is, of course, proven that while you can receive a hundred compliments and doubt every single one, yet one insult or negative comment, and it will dwell and stay with you for years.

Ross: Rach, come on, look, I know how you must feel.

Rachel: No, you don't, Ross. Imagine the worst things you think about yourself. Now, how would you    feel if the one person you trusted most in the world not only thinks them too, but actually uses them as reasons not to be with you.

Ross: No, but, but I wanna be with you in spite of all those things.

Rachel: Oh, well, that's, that's mighty big of you.

Ross: You know what? You know what? If things were the other way around, there's nothing you could put on a list that would ever make me not want to be with you.

Rachel: Well I guess that's the difference between us. See, I'd never make a list.

'cause you're the only one that can get me on my feet, and I can't even dance.

Standing in the crowd, in the arena, surrounded by thousands of Script fans, staring up at Danny, Glen and Mark. It was as if everything else went out of focus, and my eyes were glued to the stage.

 I got to wondering, if our lives had a playlist, what would be on each of ours, and what reasons would we have for the choices? 

From your favourite, your hated, to the down-right cheesy, there are, to quote someone very special to me:  “Songs for every occasion.”

So, whether you’ve got a pint, a mic or a hairbrush in your hand, singing along, although badly, provides us with some hilarious and unforgettable memories. 

The song you'll sing on karaoke after too many Vodka and Coke's, the soundtrack to your favourite film, the oldest song you know, the one by your favourite band, the only song you like by an artist, the one with the meaningful lyrics, the one with the personal meaning for you, your best friend’s favourite party tune, the song you sing in the shower, the one that requires your best head banging and air-guitaring, the one you shamefully love, the song you privately hate, the one with the stupid lyrics, the chart song everyone just can’t get enough of, the one to sway to, the one to scream to, the one to dance to. 

Whatever occasion, whatever time of day or night, no matter where you are in the world, I love that if a particular song comes over the radio, it’s like everyone knows what’s coming. That moment of recognition and expectation, where everyone, even strangers, exchanges knowing glances, just before they burst into dance. Those moments are the outstanding ones, the ones you’ll never forget.

Whether it’s the song that reminds you of That Ex, that special someone, a certain situation or it’s just a song that everybody loves to hate, music brings us together in a way that language never can. There’s nothing like the feeling of being surrounded by strangers, and a song coming on, and everyone sharing that one moment, no matter what’s happening in their own lives, for a moment, nothing matters, except the present. 

Slap on your craziest grin, put on your dancing shoes and whack out your air-guitar, because it’s not going to last forever.