We are all familiar with the song ” A Spoonful of Sugar” in the Disney movie, Mary Poppins. Adding a little “sugar” to your relationships by exhibiting virtues such as patience, forgiveness, open-mindedness, and praise can go a long way in difficult moments. As a family, let everyone choose one of the six ways to let family unity and love prevail in your relationships. After one week, have everyone share what they did to intentionally practice a virtue listed above.
If you expect people and relationships to be perfect, you are just setting yourself up for frustration. Keep in mind that every family experiences challenges. Discouragement only promotes negative beliefs and behavior.
Problems are often your opportunity to make changes and grow from your experiences. Any problem that you face has a solution that you can use to move forward.
Train yourself to look for what is going well in your relationship. Then go the extra mile and offer compliments and recognize good behavior. Doing so will fuel momentum and increase motivation to do better.
Just because things are difficult now, don’t assume they have always been this way and that you are incapable of having a good relationship. Recall times when good things have happened and remember that small changes over time have the potential to make a big difference.
When emotions are high we immediately try and solve whatever the problem is, hoping that it will take care of the emotions surrounding the problem. Addressing the emotional problems first by showing empathy, validation, listening, and not becoming defensive will make it easier and more likely to solve the practical problems.
Simple to understand, yet hard to do. To spend your time and energy on changing others is draining and has little impact. As you focus on your own improvement you invite others to do the same.
Think of a conflict you had recently with a family member. How would applying these principles have changed the outcome?