What can we do to become better people?

Question

what are the little things in life you think we can all do to make us all better people? I want to become a better person, and be recoginzed for that. there is too much selfishness in our lives and we need more good people in this world, dont you agree?

when i said recognize, i mean more of appreciated.

Answer 1

people will only get worse. life's tough, wear a helmet.

Answer 2

First off being recognized for being a better person is the wrong attitude and goes against the spirit of what you are trying to do.

The biggest impact you can make are to the people who are most important in your life. The old adage that charity begins at home can really be where you should focus. There is nothing more satisfying than helping improve the lives of the ones you love, and if it is recognition you are looking for...you will be appreciated far longer than anything else you could do.

Charity doesn't come with hero parades for your work. The feeling you get for giving of yourself for someone else is far more rewarding. Try taking a few days to really notice what is going on around you. There are hundreds of opportunities for you to make a difference in someone's life. The act isn't as important as the attitude to make a difference, not just today or when you are bored.

Volunteer, give blood, recycle, donate, organize fund raisers, or simply help a stranger who needs it.

Just get involved.

Answer 3

If you truly want to become a better person, you shouldn't want to be "recognized for that".

Start by not wanting that.

Then it's the random acts of kindness.

My advice? Just follow the Golden Rule. It varies from person to person, religion to religion, country to country, culture to culture, but the message is essentially the same: Do unto others as you want them to do unto you.

Answer 4

I agree!!! And all of us can help in our own little ways if we are smart enough to see our mistakes. There is only one way I know of to make any of us smarter - learn, learn, learn - and just when you think you are smart enough - learn some more. How to learn - read, volunteer, watch decent TV, and yes explore the Internet in all of its positive ways. The more we each learn about the world around us - the greater our ability to share our best with others.

Answer 5

Just appreciate everything you have. Don't take whatever you have for granted. Take notice in all the wonderful things this world has for us. Whether it's trying to count the spots on the lady bug in the summer, or watching snowflakes fall in the winter. Everything has beauty, you just have to take a look.

Answer 6

Yep, I sure do agree? I think mainly it boils down to three things:

--We need to stop blaming ourselves for things other people do, and for things we have no control over. If it's not your fault, it's *not* your fault and there's no need to beat yourself up over it.

Of course, if you have problems in this particular American society, that totally goes against the grain and is unheard of....people don't *want* you to figure out that there is a difference between Self-Care and Self-Indulgence (never mind laziness, which is a LOT rarer than people say it is). A lot of people would much rather keep you guilty so they can keep on making money off of you....among other things. ;)

--Once you learn to cut yourself some slack....start doing the same for others. This isn't just Random Acts of Kindness here...this is more about just not expecting or demanding some sort of perfection or standard of people. I mean, has *anyone here* never had one bad day in their lives?

And yes, I admit, it annoys me too when people and their kids have appalling manners and don't know how to act in front of people out in public, but you know what? If you constantly snap at them and judge them on the basis of their bad days....it's just talk. It isn't action.

You're not Leading By Example. :) This is why Control Freakishness is always a failure as a long-term exercise, because you are not making a good example of what you want....you aren't *teaching* people what you piss and moan about.

Instead you wind up teaching people to Piss, Moan, and be Control Freaks, and to *not* do the right thing you want them to. Wouldn't it be a better idea to *control your own self*, show that it can be done, show that you *can* do the right thing and get away with it...? And that, by extension, not doing the right thing *doesn't work*?

The Idea is to Give people what you Want from them. Kindness is as Kindness does, and if you are kind to others, eventually, at some point someone somewhere *will* return it to you.

I know, it isn't easy and a lot of the time, you *won't* win short-term. But if you are thinking "better" and not "better than", you have to think longer-term.

--And.....once you learn how to cut other ordinary people some slack. THEN you can start to hold people Accountable for their actions. Particularly people who have Power and Authority and Wealth, and yet somehow manage to embody the *worst* of us anyway.

I mean, it's one thing when some random ugly guy on the bus acts like a jerk, ok? Maybe he's having a bad day, or is spending his last dime trying to get enough food to get by, or maybe he had to literally *force himself* to even get out of bed, get dressed and get out of the house....it happens much more often that a lot of folks want to admit, this *forcing ourselves* to go through the motions, while we are in despair where it counts.

It's another thing entirely when a Multi-Billion dollar Corporation like, oh, Yahoo! Inc. or Wal-Mart or Microsoft is a Jerk by Policy. It's another thing when you have Companies acting like dictatorships and Religions acting like dictatorships and the Media acting worse than a bunch of spoiled teenagers....and constantly getting away with it.

Somebody needs to hold the powers that be to account. But that doesn't happen when we *ordinary* people are not only at each other's throats but *our own throats* as well.

I'm just saying...

Thanks for your time! :)

Answer 7

yes i agree a thousand times i would say to make us better people is to look passed peoples race,background or religon becuz when i all boils down we are all people first!!!!

Answer 8

yes o course we do need
the best thing to do is help a person in need

Answer 9

Well your first mistake is your desire to be recognized OR appreciated for your kindness towards others. There should be no strings attached to being nice. It's a gift - not a trade.

Answer 10

Become happy with who we are and encourage others to accept themselves instead of becoming what they think others want them to be.