Generally when people have a consistently high opinion of me I think they’re mistaken.
For example, I have an editor friend who thinks I’m a genius. Which was really flattering at first, but now when I show her something I’ve written, I don’t trust her opinion as being objective.
(On reading that, it seems pretty fucked up doesn’t it? Shouldn’t I just be happy that a couple of people admire me?)
I think people’s high opinion of me is correct, as I am a pretty awesome person and I try very hard to be awesome to others (Thanks Bill & Ted!)
However I think that everyone that knows and loves me also feels a twinge of pity for me because I am ugly and lonely. So everyone’s opinion of me includes “She’s so awesome, but…”
Not bad.
The things I get high praises for I couldn’t change about myself if I tried. So I don’t really feel I deserve high praise for stuff that just comes to me naturally.
Now if I did altruistic things that were actually taxing on me or took sort of effort, that would be a different story.
Varies.
In some cases it’s true, I’ve done some interesting things, am occasionally creative, can come across as a stand up guy, etc.
In some cases it’s either a matter of taste (some people like it and some people don’t but it’s not good or bad in any absolute sense)… or based in limited information and therefore, not wrong so much as naive. Yeah, sometimes I look decent, but sometimes I don’t, so people who think I’m hot based only on the pictures of myself I allow to survive on the internet I find of dubious credibility.
The third category I like the best. Sometimes someone will say something about me that I never would have thought about myself, and may even go against type. But after a while I realize it’s true, and I’m glad they got me to consider it.
It’s rare though that anyone is completely off base. At worst, their view is too simplistic.
I think they are correct. After all, they see the outward results of me trying to live up to their opinions of me without having to see all the inward crushing self-doubt and angst over unworthy things I did or thought 35 years ago (or yesterday, for that matter). My husband knows me better than anyone else and he seem to have a high opinion of me. I trust his judgement of other people, so I suppose I’ve got to trust him on this. Lord knows he’s seen or knows about all my worst deeds and most of my worst thoughts.