Pete’s blog

It has been a while since I have written something arrogant and pretentious… ok it has been a while since I wrote anything… but just lately I have been having a lot of exposure to conflict between people and I started wondering what makes a good person, a nice person. Since I strive every day to be a good, nice person, what are the principles that I try and live up to when dealing with other people? So here is what I came up with – Pete’s guide to being a nice person:

• Other people always have something to teach you, learn from them
• Do not ever assume that you are better than someone – everyone will be better than you at at least one thing.
• Give others the benefit of the doubt. Don’t assume that any action is deliberate, malicious or intended negatively. This is not to say you should be naive, be wary of others’ intentions, but rather allow them to prove their good intentions before condemning them.
• Trust people for their intentions, not for their actions. Trusting someone because you believe their intentions are good (or bad) is far better than trusting someone to do or not to do something.
• Do not expect anyone to do something that you would not be willing to do yourself
• Do not judge anyone for doing something that you have done yourself
• Be patient when explaining things to other people, their inability to understand does not mean that they are stupid. In fact if you are unable to explain something to a ‘stupid’ person, you yourself do not understand what you are trying to explain.
• If someone disagrees with you, it does not mean that they know less than you, it may be that they know more than you, or have interpreted things differently.
• Be open about your opinions and beliefs, allow them to be scrutinized and challenged by others
• Listen to other people’s opinions and beliefs, respect and try to understand why they hold those beliefs
• Always consider how you can make other people’s lives easier with the things that you do
• Be patient, tolerant and open with even the most frustrating of people
• Help others without any expectations of recognition or reward
• If someone helps you without expecting recognition and reward, repay the kindness a thousand fold
• Do everything you can to help other good people succeed
• Always admit when you are wrong
• Be gracious and allow others to admit when they are wrong
• Learn from your mistakes and help others to understand their mistakes
• Other people’s interests are equally important as your own interests
• Tough love - always aim for the long term happiness of others and not their current happiness. This can be the hardest because it can mean hurting someone now, if you know it will make them happy later. Tough love can only be applied if you follow every other point listed above – especially be wary that you are not assuming that you know more or are better than the other person.

Well there we go, a short list of slightly different ways to be a good person

Be good everyone!