One summer night in college I was visiting a friend and we went out dancing at some nightclub in her hometown. There was an instant attraction between her and a gentleman at the club. They danced for hours, and hours, and hours. (okay, really just a couple of hours, but you get the point), leaving his friend and I in each others company. Our attraction was, well, non-existent, but we danced a bit and tried to scream some small talk over the music. Near the end of the evening, much to my surprise, he looked over at me and proclaimed, “You look hot.” Once my brain caught up with my mouth (see the part about non-existent attraction), I said – “thank you.” He looked confused and clarified, “No I mean like hot and sweaty. It’s really hot in here.”
I’m sure that I felt pretty foolish in that moment and things were probably even more awkward for that last hour of dancing, but I never lost any sleep over his non-compliment.
You know why? Because foolishness happens. We misunderstand people. We show up less prepared than we meant to for that meeting. We stay up late for a concert when we know the alarm is going to go off at 5:00am the next day. We wear ridiculous shoes because they’re pretty. And here’s the thing – the presentation is fine, the concert is worth it, and those shoes are gorgeous. Most importantly, your beauty is deeper than the misunderstood compliments of strangers.
*Picture above is from the same general time period as the “you’re hot” story – not guaranteed to be that actual night.
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