Looking For Good

Do you want to improve your attitude toward others and toward yourself? Here’s a little exercise to try. It will not only help you see the best in others; you’ll feel better about yourself too.

1. Make a list of the people you want to concentrate on today. You could include friends, family members, teachers, anyone.

2. While you are around them, watch for things they do that are praiseworthy—a smile, a friendly act, a kind word, a willingness to listen, a generous gesture, an expression of gratitude, good humor, a demonstration of honesty, etc.

3. Write down a couple of good things you observed about that person on your list.

4. Look for opportunities to compliment that person on the things you noticed. Be sincere. Tell others of the good things you saw that person do. Repeat this daily for a week with different people on your list each day.

5. Explain your experiment to a friend and both of you do it for the next two weeks.

6. As a final test, write the name of someone you don’t particularly care for on your list. Watch this person do three praiseworthy things and record them. Finally, let this person know you appreciate the things he did.

7. Repeat until it becomes easy.