BEING APPRECIATIVE RATHER THAN CRITICAL OF SOMEONE'S HELP

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you helped someone complete a task and instead of saying, "Thank you for helping me." they just criticized the way that you did the job?  For example, pretend that you helped your husband organize some things in the garage to make his life easier and rather thank thanking you for the help, he only criticized the way you labeled the boxes. Would it make you wonder why you bothered to help in the first place?  Of course it would.  Why do people do that???  Why do WE do that???   Why is it so hard to relinquish control in order to make our lives easier?  By insisting that we do everything ourselves we only make life harder instead.

Whether you delegate jobs to others or receive the generosity of help from someone else, do not force your obsessive compulsive tendencies onto them.  There are many ways to get jobs done, all of which can be considered "right."  If your child offers to help fold the laundry ( I know it's a long shot ) and they fold the towels "wrong," resist the urge to correct them and just say thank you for the help and simply put the towels away.  Isn't the point to have the laundry folded and put away?  Why does it have to be perfect?  It doesn't.  The five minutes your child saved you by helping with the towels is five minutes extra you have to do something your child wants to do, not to mention the quality time you spent together folding the laundry.  If a child is constantly criticized then they learn to be judgmental.

Sometimes we get so caught up in tedious details that we lose sight of the point.  By doing so we also risk hurting other people that we care about.  It is easy to go through life in an "unconscious" manner made up of schedules, routines and to do lists.  Take the time to "consciously" go through your day and to "consciously" be aware of how you interact with those around you.  Remember that kindness never goes out of style...