Surprise!

...complimented me... When I tried to talk her out of her kind words, she refused to take them back. She insisted that I deserved her compliment and others as well. I began to realize how far down my feelings of self-worth had sunk... ~ Courage to Change, page 130

I want you to know how great I am...
but mainly because I don't believe it,
that I consider it an act, a disguise,
that I'm putting one over on the world.
But when you share your love with me,
when you find something to say nice about,
when you praise me and thus embarrass me,
then I want to hide. But please, don't let me.
Make me face the fact you find good about me,
that you believe in me, that you admire me.
When you do that, the you're loving me
and one way for me to learn to love myself
is by accepting the love you give, and when you do,
you're healing a hurting soul, and what a surprise
that is.