Looking For and Fostering the Good in the World and Ourselves.

Yesterday, I had an experience that's a little difficult to explain. I stumbled into a conversation, guessed from context clues that I was being asked for help, immediately agreed to help, and then had a good laugh when I learned what the conversation was actually about. Walking away from the experience, I thought about life as a game, with myself as the character I control, and I said "I love this game! I love my character." In that moment, I saw aspects of life and of myself that I really appreciate. I saw good in myself and in life, and I just took a moment to appreciate those things. That was a really nice moment, and I'd like to have more of them. Thankfully, I'm pretty sure I know how: by focusing on and fostering the good.

Life is good. There are many good things in life, mixed in with the parts that aren't so good. If we want to have a happy life, we can focus on the good aspects of life and look for the good in all other aspects, like finding humor in an otherwise embarrassing miscommunication. If we choose to find the good and focus on it, we will have a much more positive relationship with life.

We can do the same with ourselves, adding a single, important step. We can look for and appreciate the good in ourselves, just as we can with anyone or anything else, but we can also nurture and develop the good things we see (or would like to see) in ourselves. Yesterday, I appreciate my willingness to serve, a trait that I have developed fairly well, but I can think of other traits that I'd like to develop and improve. The more we nurture the good in ourselves, the more good there will be to see in ourselves, and the more there'll be to love.

I love life, and I love myself. Still, I could stand to love both more. I would like to look harder and see more good in the world, and I would like to work harder to develop more good in myself. It's a wonderful thing to love life and oneself, and I think I've learned a way to grow to love both more. Look for the good, both in the world and in yourself, and, when possible, increase it.