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How difficult is it for you to take a compliment?

I've always been confident in general, but taught not to have an ego, so I never really learned to take a compliment of any sort. Compliments about my physical appearance are difficult to believe because I had a swan/duckling thing going on in primary school -- I looked a little different and had an accent, so people teased me pretty badly. Now I literally get at least one comment from a guy every day about how beautiful, sexy, or pretty I am. (I'm shy about my appearance, though, and don't like those because of the way I was teased in my school days. I never know what to say.)

Compliments about being funny or telling stories are a little easier to accept because it's a nerdy sort of skill I developed BECAUSE I was always being teased. If I wasn't qualified to be a model/actress, I could still write about them, haha.

Anyway, this morning I was reading something about how women can never take compliments from a guy and that it emasculates the guy and makes him withdraw from a nice girl, pushing him in the direction of a b**chy girl. I thought that was an insane assumption, but it actually makes sense. If every time my guy says, "You look great!" I answer "Oh, you're just saying that because you're my guy." he will ultimately stop complimenting me... perhaps even stop looking.

So today I exercised my right to receive compliments. It was awkward at first, but when a delivery guy said "Wow, sweetie, you are so damned beautiful!" instead of tucking my head into my scarf and averting my eyes to the nearest row of shrubbery, I smiled and called out "Thank you!" and got an amused little chuckle. "You're welcome, baby."

Am I suddenly an egomaniac? No, I still look in the mirror and see the same plain old me, but it's interesting to see the effect this change has on other people. It makes THEM happy when you receive their compliments rather than dismissing them as false/hyperbolic comments... It's like wearing that reindeer sweater your gammy sent you for Christmas. It's not your favorite, but look at how she smiles when you thank her and wear it as soon as you take it out of the box.

I'd like to know your thoughts, guys and gals!