🌟 The Art of Receiving: How Learning to Truly Accept Can Change Your Life

What a simple “thank you” can teach us about energy, abundance, and the way we allow good things in.

We, as women, have long learned a silent reflex: to deflect compliments. To say “Oh, this old thing,” or “It was nothing,” or to quickly return the light to the speaker. It feels humble, modest, even polite — but energetically, we quietly turn away from an invitation to acknowledge ourselves — to truly see and receive who we intrinsically are.

In fact, research shows that women accept compliments significantly less often than men. One study found that compliments were accepted only about 40 percent of the time — and the rate was even lower when the compliment came from another woman. Linguistic studies also highlight that women are more likely to respond with modesty or self-deprecation, shaped by long-standing cultural norms around humility and likability.

🌿 A Moment That Invited Reflection

Earlier this week, I attended an event at the Fairmont in Century City — that sleek corridor of Los Angeles where the glass-and-steel towers of major entertainment agencies rise above the streets like monuments to ambition.

Inside the ballroom, a few hundred powerhouse women from the media and entertainment world gathered — women I’ve spent the past decade attending events like this with. Ambitious. Intelligent. Driven. The kind of women who lead teams, close deals, and shape culture. It was the kind of room that radiates quiet authority — women who’ve spent years mastering their craft and leading with presence. And yet… beneath all that brilliance, something revealing unfolded.

As I mingled before dinner, one woman smiled and said, “I love your glasses — are they blue?” Without missing a beat, I replied, “Yes! Oh — and I love yours too!”

And in that instant, I felt it — the quiet recoil that made me deflect the compliment instead of receiving it. It wasn’t conscious; it was instinctual. An almost imperceptible inner tightening, as if accepting her kind words would somehow tip the balance or make me seem too comfortable with praise. It felt a little silly, I thought — they were just glasses, after all. Or maybe not just glasses. Maybe it was something more.

Later at the dinner table, I turned to another woman I’ve admired for years — someone who seems to effortlessly balance it all. She’s raising a family, nurturing a great relationship, and thriving in a demanding role as a partner at a Big Four CPA firm. I looked at her and said, “You haven’t aged a day since I met you eight years ago.” She laughed and instantly replied, “Neither have you!”

There it was again — that automatic reflex.

Not receiving. Deflecting.

And it struck me: here we were, a ballroom filled with women whose résumés and reputations speak for themselves — confident, accomplished, self-assured — yet when faced with a simple moment of being seen, we instinctively turned it away.

💎 The Energy of Deflection

On the surface, deflecting a compliment feels polite, even generous — a way to keep the exchange in harmony. But energetically, it’s something else entirely.

When we deflect, we interrupt the natural flow of giving and receiving. A compliment is an offering — a reflection of appreciation, beauty, or resonance being extended toward you. When you immediately toss it back, you’re essentially saying,

“I can’t hold this.”

It’s not only a disservice to the person who offered that energy — it’s also a signal to the universe that says,

“I’m not open to receive.”

If we can’t let in something as simple as kind words, how can we possibly allow in the bigger things we’re calling forward — love, opportunity, abundance, or even the reinvention we desire most?

🌸 The Paradox of Power

The subtle irony struck me. Here we were — women who run companies, guide teams, and operate with excellence — yet when faced with a moment of genuine acknowledgment, we shrink.

We move through the world with power, yet still carry the quiet discomfort of believing we must be more to be enough. When someone reflects our light back to us, it touches the tender space between achievement and self-worth — and we turn away, not out of modesty, but from the subconscious conditioning that taught us our value must be earned.

But here’s the truth: The ability to receive is its own form of power. It’s the quiet permission to rest in enoughness. The courage to let love, praise, and possibility find their way in. And the remembrance that we are already worthy — without earning, proving, or striving.

✨ The Energetics of Allowing

Every time we allow a compliment to land without deflection, we strengthen our capacity to receive on a deeper level. We teach our energy field that it’s safe to hold praise, beauty, recognition — that we are worthy of the reflection being offered.

Receiving a compliment isn’t about vanity. It’s about alignment.

When someone says, “You look radiant,” and you breathe, smile, and say “Thank you,” you’re affirming:

“I’m open to the good that’s already here.”

That simple energetic shift — from resistance to receptivity — opens the same channel that abundance, creativity, and love flow through.

🌿 A Simple ReinvenHER Practice

The next time someone compliments you — whether it’s your work, your presence, or your style — take a breath and pause before responding. Let the words land.

Resist the urge to reflect it back or dilute it. Just receive.

Smile. Say “Thank you.” And feel the quiet but profound openness ripple through your body.

That’s not just politeness. That’s expansion — a quiet act of self-acknowledgment that tells the universe: I’m ready to receive more.

🌸 Closing Thought

At ReinvenHER, we talk about the art of rediscovery — peeling back the layers of expectation, ego, and conditioning to return to who you’ve always been.

Learning to receive — to truly let in the beauty reflected back to you — is part of that rediscovery.

Because every compliment you deflect is a missed opportunity to practice receiving. And every time you allow one to land, you’re not just accepting praise — you’re saying yes to abundance, connection, and the powerful unfolding of your own reinvention.

So, the next time someone says, “You look radiant,” pause, smile, and let it in.

You’re not just accepting a compliment. You’re affirming your mantra:

“I’m open to the good that’s already here.”

You’re practicing the art of receiving — fully open, fully alive, and fully you.