Mini blog - How to be a nicer person

Think of this analogy. You are holding a cup of coffee and someone bumps into you making you spill your coffee everywhere. Had it been water, you would have spilled that everywhere. When you pushed, you spill whatever is in your cup. So what is in your cup today?

Anger, bitterness, harsh words? So if someone pushes you, this is what will come oozing out. It might feel good to let it all out on the spot but then later you will then regret it.

Choose what you fill your cup with

Fill it with joy, acceptance, forgiveness and open heart and let this spill out and overflow when you are prodded or when life gets tough. You can always choose how to react and what to fill your cup with.

Choose positivity, understanding, and love and when prodded or pushed, let that ooze out and spill everywhere. Imagine how much impact you will have when you meet the pushy commuter with a smile or the screaming, frustrated child with a beautiful hug.

The old adage of “Don’t say anything if you don’t have anything good to say” is one to remember

If you are feeling the urge to gossip or say something negative, take a deep breath and remember this. Whatever you choose to focus on grows.

Nobody is perfect and everyone is on their own journey. If someone is not for you, let them go, accept that they are not for you and don’t waste time or energy thinking about them or talking about them. Just gently let them go with love.

It's not about you

Similarly, when someone is having a go, remind yourself that this is not about you. It’s important to remember that whatever that person did to you is not a reflection of who you are but rather where they are at in their journey. Maybe they had an awful day or, heck, a series of awful days and they are so caught up in their lives that they cannot see how they are causing you grief.

And you always have a choice. Ask yourself what good are you getting out of thinking about someone that you don’t value? What is the payoff? If there is none, maybe it’s time to gently forget about them.