Embracing Positivity and Compassion: A Life Motto on how to do better and be a good person

Everyone is born a good person. It is the choices you make that will ultimately determine what kind of person you choose to be. Even if you make bad choices, you can still wake up the next day and make better ones. As a parent, this is a great mindset to keep reminding myself of because kids are usually great at letting things go and moving on.

My Life Motto for Being a Good Person

1. Be Positive The power of positivity can be incredibly effective when you believe and have the right mindset. Positivity attracts positivity, and maintaining a positive outlook can transform your life and the lives of those around you.

2. Treat Others with Respect and Kindness Treat others the way you want to be treated. Respect and kindness go a long way in building strong, healthy relationships and creating a harmonious environment.

3. Don’t Judge This has been a significant mindset change for me. I used to judge people, but it does no good. It’s better to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. Since the pandemic, I’ve noticed people have become more selfish and less respectful. For example, when driving, I often felt road rage because I wanted to reach my destination quickly and was bothered by slow drivers. Now, I understand that people might be slowing down for a reason, such as being unsure of their route or being Uber/Lyft drivers trying to do their job. It does us no good to think negatively of them.

4. Be Mindful of the Present, Your Surroundings, and Others Being present in what you’re doing, enjoying the moment, and paying attention to your surroundings is crucial. Mindfulness helps you appreciate life and connect with others.

5. Be Grateful, Respectful, and Forgive Express gratitude for everything you have. Respect everything and everyone. Forgive people and their actions. Holding onto resentments can lead to emotional and physical pain. Emotions are powerful. Masaru Emoto’s research showed that water exposed to positive words and intentions formed beautiful, symmetrical crystalline structures when frozen, while water exposed to negative words and intentions formed disorganized, asymmetrical structures. Shadow work is also crucial to avoid letting the past negatively affect your present and future.

6. Show Empathy and Compassion We are all connected. The impact you make on the world and others and the concept of karma are important. Generally, empathy and sympathy are easier towards individuals or situations we can relate to. If it’s a stranger or an unfamiliar situation, we might feel less connection, but we can still show empathy. According to Psychology Today, “Compassion is an empathic understanding of a person’s feelings, accompanied by altruism, or a desire to act on that person’s behalf.”

• Empathy is our feeling of awareness toward other people’s emotions and an attempt to understand how they feel. It’s the ability to see yourself in another person’s shoes.
• Compassion is an emotional response to empathy or sympathy and creates a desire to help. When you relate to someone’s situation, you want to help them.

In summary, compassion is when you see someone in trouble and feel like pitching in. Empathy is an understanding of our shared humanity, while compassion adds a desire to help.

Conclusion

Embracing positivity, treating others with respect, avoiding judgment, being mindful, practicing gratitude and forgiveness, and showing empathy and compassion are all steps towards becoming a better person. By making these choices, you can positively impact your life and the lives of those around you. Remember, you can always wake up tomorrow and choose to be better.