Why compliments are dangerous to your health

(Or at least, to neurotic people like me :D)

For some reason, I felt bad when my boss sent me an email bearing the unmistakable electronic equivalent of a human compliment. Sure, I was pretty happy about it, but the goody feeling evaporated as fast as it came.

Why a compliment would become so bothersome is beyond me. Maybe I was just nonplussed by it, on the merits that I didn't feel that my accomplishments were that compliment-worthy. I was like, "Hey, it's my job. You pay me to do it, you know."

Or maybe because it was a compliment sent through email. It's harder to "feel" the person when everything is so electronic. Or maybe it's just the paranoid in me, thinking, "This is my boss's way of screwing with my head because I submitted such a pathetic report."

It can also be that I can't accept compliments because I can't bring myself to compliment anyone. Or maybe it's because I feel that compliments are fast becoming a compulsory tradition and a compliment is not always meant.

Or maybe it's because I am afraid of bearing the responsibility of being complimented, knowing full well that with compliments come higher expectations. I now know that my boss and other superiors expect nothing less but prompt responses from me. No more room for slothful reports :B

Anyway, checking through my mail today made me realize that I might just have to accept the possibility that my work is indeed compliment-worthy. THAT compliment might not have been just a fluke. My other boss sent me a compliment, too.

Bully for now.