She felt scared to compliment 'cute' gym girl — her reaction revealed the lies we tell ourselves

Every now and then, we see people setting unrealistic expectations about how to look, behave, and even act a certain way. In all this uniformity, people forget about their peculiarities that make them different from the crowd. In the spirit of appreciation, an Instagram influencer, Sophia, shared a video complimenting a fellow gym girl, focusing on how it made her react.

In a video posted by Sophia, who goes by @growthbysoph on Instagram, she is seen talking to her friend about the girl in a pink outfit. “I wanna go ask her where it’s from?” reads the text overlay. Scared to do so, she kept discussing with her fellow gymrat whether to physically walk up and compliment a stranger or not. Pushing Sophia, her friend added a striking detail about the matching bow the girl was wearing, which served as a perfect last touch to the whole fit.

Eventually, she stepped up and walked to compliment the girl, asking her for details on her outfit. While she was all dolled up and busy doing a seated leg set, Sophia asked, “I love your outfit, where’s it from?” “It’s Bo+Tee,” said the girl. Going up to a stranger and complimenting them, without any expectations in return, is brave — a story of hesitation and finding guts that every woman can relate to.

Research shows that such behaviour is not just an act of bravery but also carries a great impact. Kindness plays an enormous role in a person’s well-being, leading to changes like higher self-esteem and lower blood pressure. However, people are often stopped by their gut. “From giving away a cup of hot chocolate in a park to giving away a gift in the lab, those performing a random act of kindness consistently underestimated how positive their recipients would feel, thinking their act was of less value than recipients perceived it to be,” stated the study, which was published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology in 2022.

Sophie’s hesitation earlier in the video is a sign of people casually underestimating their core values, even if they are good. The same report also showed that 85% of people struggle with their inner voice, which underestimates themselves. This “voice” tends to shift our focus inward, insulting us, assessing our every move, and interfering with our relationships. But going forward, ignoring the intruding questions that surround our gut feeling, we can bring a change.

In the video, Sophie’s friend shared, “I don’t know if you noticed when you walked away, but she was smiling like loads. She looked down at her little outfit, adjusted the shorts, and... smiled again.” That is the impact we are talking about, irrespective of its size. "It’s so nice to hear that you made someone feel good and maybe even made their day, so it makes it worth it in the end! I’ve had some girls come up to me in the gym and say nice things, and it’s such a mood booster, let's keep sharing the positivity," Sophie penned in the caption.

People did not hold back from supporting Sophie. "Ah, that was so cute of you. You never know how much confidence it gave the girl. Compliments are everything," @miss.exb wrote. "I have found most of us all feel like you! lol there’s this 'don’t talk to strangers in the gym' attitude that has us all worried to talk to someone. I’ve started to open up and just give a compliment or a quick 'how are ya?' And it’s always went well. I love this. You’re adorable too," affirmed @heyhey.changing.my.life. "Always give the compliment, no matter how scared you feel! Love to see gym girlies lifting each other," suggested @kaptured.by.kaylee. 

You can follow Sophie, @growthybysoph, on Instagram, for more such vlogs.