If We Look for the Good....

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The other day, I responded to a discussion with something "lifted" from the Disney movie, Pollyanna. Now, normally I am not the Pollyanna-ish type. Most who know me would say the same. Yet, one thing from the movie has always stuck with me, because it's also always been part of my own, personal philosophy on life and people. And, I am not quoting it directly, but it's something to the tune of, "If we look for the good - we'll find it.". How many believe this to be true? As a social worker, I worked with some children in the past with horrific behavior problems. How was it possible to get them to learn and display correct, acceptable behavior? By looking for the tiniest thing that could be considered "good" - even if it was not shouting for half a minute - and rewarding it. Eventually, the "good" behavior increased with the expectation of the reward. Over time, the reward became inconsequential - because it became internalized. The children did well, because they felt better inside doing so.