Being able to accept help when you need it.
For some people, accepting a compliment, or favor or help when it is really needed is difficult. And the urge to “pay back” the person who helped can ruin the whole experience. Learning to accept graciously without giving into the urge to “pay back” can enhance one’s self esteem as few other thing can. In the novel, Time Will Darken It, William Maxwell writes one of the best paragraphs on learning how to accept:
“You can’t pay people back for the kindness they show you when you’re in trouble,” Dr. Danforth said emphatically. “There isn’t any way of measuring, in terms of money, what you owe them. You can go on paying them back forever, and still be indebted to them. Sometimes they don’t need any help. Or maybe the kind of help they need you can”t give them. All you can do is look around for somebody that is in need of help and do what you can for them, figuring that it will all be cancelled out some day.”