This worksheet is a daily practice of looking for good qualities in the people you meet: strengths, good intentions, talents, virtues, and efforts. Seeing the goodness in someone may improve your interactions with that person and bring out the best in them, and it offers them the experience of being seen with kindness.
How to practice
- In the morning, set the intention to look for good qualities in one or more people you meet that day.
- When you meet someone, look for one or more good qualities. They can be modest, such as a basic sense of fair play. The person does not need to be a saint and may have difficult qualities too, as most of us do.
- Remember that, just like you, this person wishes to be safe, happy, and free from suffering.
- You might imagine seeing a fundamentally noble being beneath the surface, and let that intention guide how you speak and act.
- Notice how the person responds to being seen this way, and notice your own inner responses toward them.
- If you wish, add more days over time and extend the practice to strangers and difficult people. If good qualities are hard to find, be patient with yourself and keep looking.
Where the practice comes from
Seeing goodness in others is practiced in many cultures. This version is adapted from Jack Kornfield’s practice Seeing the Secret Goodness and James Baraz’s practice Looking for Joy. In India, it is common to greet others with a bow and the word “namaste,” which means “I honor the divine in you.”
