“One who compliments himself is a liar”, this is the translation of the Arabic proverb “Made7 nafso kazzab”. My friend Haitham always reminds me of this whevever I acknowledge something good in me.
For instance, he would say “They love you”, then I say “yeah, I am loveable”. He would groan and say “Made7 nafso Kazzab”!
It isn’t just Haitham, it is a general matter where it seems that we have developed a sense of not believing those who talk good about themselves because usually people who do talk much about their qualities are the ones who lack them.
But why wouldn’t I acknowledge my own qualities just in fear of people misinterpret me with others who lie?
Acknowledgement doesn’t mean to keep on bringing it every single time I talk with anyone else, or exaggerating it, or even gloating in front of others about some qualities that I have where others don’t. It means to be able to state that yes, I do have those qualities, and that yes, I am proud of it, and that yes, you can seem me in a better light if you are aware that I have them.
One has to develop a good amount of social/emotional intelligence in order to know when it is appropriate to talk about himself in a good way and when just to stay silent and let others praise him.
When I usually acknowledge a quality in me in front of another person. I try to ground my face expression so that it wont look as if I am gloating or something. Some other times, when I am into a teasing mood and head to head with a friend, I do exaggerate my qualities and give my face a gloating expression.
I recommend you people not to shy from stating the good in you. You just have to do it appropiatly.
Fadi Zaghmout فادي زغموت 
🙂Enno i’d be kidding by saying that! 😛But aside from the kidding part, i dont think that saying the good thing in you is wrong, bel3aks its good & would always make you feel better about your self! 🙂Bs enno ishi o menno Mr. Fadi! 😉 😛
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why do u need to verbally state to others what you believe is good about yourself ? in my book thats flaunting unless you were specifically asked to do that 😀
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Hythamo, :P, ishi o menno? shoo asdak?no_angel, it isn’t that you need it, but why shy of saying it when it is appropriate? We spend a lot of our time in complimenting each other, why not give some to ourselves? 😛
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when actions speak louder than words you won’t need to “state” your good qualities.frankly if i’m talking with someone and s/he goes like “yeah i have those qualities” i’d say “well we weren’t talking about you for starters” 😛 and then “why wouldn’t you let your good qualities show naturally?”
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faten, Why not explicitly stating them out as well? As long as you don’t try to make the other person talking to you feel inferior. I guess when you do that and the other one feel offended or annoyed, it shows that the other person reflect it on himself rather than seeing it objectively.
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It is okay to pamper yourselfIt is okay to pay yoursefIt is okay to treat yourselfIt is okay to pat yourself on the backIt is okay to spoil yourselfIt is okay to feel that you are the greatest, smartest, and most courageous person on earth.The question is : Why should anybody care ?!
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Alot of times i say to my self good job man.
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It’s not about being shy Fadi, I guess people say “Made7 Nafso.. Kazzab” because 99% of then don’t believe in the talking part, I’d rather do it that say it.. you know what I mean?
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bro,I agree with bam(no-angel) on this:D For me when someone says good things about himself without me asking-is mash6oob-😛
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I like to flaunt my good points at job interviews 🙂If somebody pays me a compliment I smile and I agree. Bas I don’t bring it up by myself.
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Except of hamede, you all seem to disagree with me on this one 🙂Why don’t you try it guys? It can be very annoying when it becomes a habit, but it would be nice as well when you compliment yourself sometimes like saying “wow, I am good in this”, or “I am really talented”, or “I love what I did” …etc.It is good to acknowledge the good in you, even loudly.
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You’re probably right actually, and it is a concept in the “law of attraction”. The problem that I am having (aside from being idiotically modest) is that even if I do (eventually) acknowledge a good thing in me (let us say kindness), I say it half heartedly because I don’t REALLY know if I am as kind as people claim I am or as kind as I would like to believe I am, because I think it isn’t enough.This is what stops me from progressing quickly though, is that when I do acknowledge a good in me I focus on the quantity of that good compared to what I would want it to be (which is infinite, lol) rather than by its mere existence in me.And it pisses me off, that as someone who can go into deep intra and inter analysis of the human psyche, that I can identify what is wrong with me but I just can’t find the right method to go around it. As if I anticipate that I would do something to fix my stupidity that I build a wall around myself to reject the plan.Talk about someone who thinks a lot! LoL.
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