everyone loves a compliment

I like to consider myself a fairly humble person (yeah, very humble of me to say so right?), and because of this I often find that I struggle with how to respond to a compliment. Don't get me wrong, every good word that is given to me I truly appreciate, but I often feel that I need to respond in some way. A word of thanks or some other form of verbal acknowledgement, which sounds just about right except that most of what I would want to say feels like a cheap acknowledgement or like an attempt to affirm the compliment. For example, my manager has expressed to me over the past few months how much of an impact I have had, how great a job I am doing, and how many other people that we work with he has heard similar things from. Most of the time I respond with some variation of "I'm just doing my job" since that is usually how I feel about it. I love my job, the people I work with, and the freedom that I am given to get things done. I work hard and do what needs to be done, not for the accolades that come with it but because I want to see our team continue to succeed so I can continue to have the job that I love. Again, just because I might not feel that I am doing anything extraordinary, doesn't mean that I am not... I do have a somewhat limited perspective when it comes to appraising my own work and work ethic (don't we all). So I guess that is why when someone compliments me, I usually thank them and explain in some form or another that I do things from a basis of love. Love for my friends, for my family, for my job, for the environment... and of course love for God, because without his blessings I would not be anything special at all.

I used to think that I wanted my special legacy that I left behind one day to be that people would remember me because I brought them happiness. I don't think that way any more, well not exactly anyway. I like to be remembered as someone who brings joy; because to me joy implies something longer lasting than happiness. Joy is that lasting impact that brings a smile to someone's face when they see you after a long absence. Joy is knowing that no matter the circumstance, that person can always help you up and let in some sunshine. Joy comes from always showing and expressing to people the love you have for them, because you can never give away too much love - God gives it to us in unlimited supply. After all, like God said to Abraham (though not in these words)... you are blessed so that you may be a blessing to all those around you. And in that context, wouldn't you like to be able to respond to compliments with a hearty, I'm just doing my job!