by Dawn Billings, founder of RelationshipHelp.com
Character is built on values that insist that we show consideration to another regardless of their initial behavior, not as a response, but as a choice based on our beliefs that respect and kindness are always the right gifts to give for any occasion.
Too many people choose their choices and behaviors in response to someone else's bad or hurtful choices. But when we simply react negatively to negative that can leave us feeling at odds with the person we want most to be. Anyone can 'react' in kind, but it takes a person with a depth of character and confidence that responds with consideration to another, in spite of the bad behaviors chosen by them. Coach John Wooden believed that being considerate to others was not a burden or obligation to him, but rather it made him very happy to do it.
So how can we best be considerate of others? Appreciation is the greatest show of respect that you can give to another. Appreciation causes people to feel more considerate because when they feel appreciated they find ourselves wanting to do and give more.
People like feeling noticed and appreciated. It inspires us and makes us feel important. When we feel important to our partner it is much more likely that we want our partner to feel important as well. Giving appreciation is a selfish gift for the return comes back one hundred fold, while it enhances the people you love in extraordinary ways.
Appreciation and consideration never lives in the world of our extreme color personality tendencies. Our decision to be kind or considerate of another person should never be based on whether we deem a person is worthy or not. Those decisions should always be based on our understanding of who we choose to be in spite of difficult circumstances.
Do we choose to behave out of our centered color personality tendencies or do we choose to behave out of our extreme color personality tendencies? It is difficult for us to comprehend that hundreds of thousands of relationships are critically injured by entitlement and the extreme personality color behaviors that it throws us into every single day. Entitlement moves us into our extremes and away from our center and causes us to forget that each relationship is a gift from one heart to another.
Different color personality tendencies define joy and happiness differently. However no matter our personality color blends, choosing to appreciate the good in our lives always expands the joy we feel each day.
Personality expert Dawn Billings is an author and relationship counselor who resides in Arizona. Dawn is the author of the Happiness Curriculum and creator of the happiness resource OverJOYedLife.com
Dawn is also the creator of the Primary Colors Relationship Personality Tests and Insight Tools and inventor of the patented parenting tool for toddlers called CAPABLES.