Why do most people, when we look in the mirror of ourselves, admit our negative traits before we admit our good ones?

I meet and speak with the most interesting people in my travels and demos and that is one of the things I notice on a continual basis.  I always try and turn it around for the person, asking what they love to do best and working off of that, but it always interests me to understand why this seems to happen. The best I can guess is that people don't want to seem vain or egotistical in general, let alone to a person they just met.

I wonder though, why can't we see the good in ourselves first on a regular basis? Why can't we hone the good tools we have and slowly but surely pack away the not so good ones. Why can't we allow for the fact that feeling wonderful about ourselves is, well, pretty wonderful!

When we feel positive about a particular something we excel at, it releases the same feel good endorphins that make us healthier and stronger and happier. It makes us appreciate what we have more too, because we realize that we are worth the good stuff. We allow ourselves the healthy food and good drink. We let ourselves take the stress-releasing break. We take time to exercise.

What are your suggestions for looking kindly in the mirror?