When developing the power of observation, it’s helpful to think of your eyes as great magnifying glasses, capable of noticing wonderful things in other people which a careless observer doesn’t see. In this way, we learn to see things which were previously not visible to us. We learn, after a while, to see with our brain. The eye merely suggesting what our mind already believes.
We should be so skilled in reading human nature, and so trained in studying people, that they are like open books to us, so that we can understand their motives and the influences that have molded them into the person they are today.
We should be able to see what has kept them from their dreams or dampened their ambitions. We should be able to understand their failures, or what has contributed to their development and success.
We should be able to see marvelous things, and to extract valuable knowledge and experience from the most ordinary human beings. There is no one so ignorant or so low that they can not teach us many valuable things.
I know a woman who says “everybody is interesting” to her, that no matter who she meets, or what part of the world they are from, she can find something interesting about them if she approaches them in a way that allows them to speak about their experiences in life.
We are often too quick to judge people based on superficial first impressions. If they do not impress us when we first meet them, it is hard to overcome that prejudice. But if we make up our mind that every human being bears the mark of their Maker; that there must be something good, something interesting about each person, and if we approach each person with a positive opinion, our lives will be much more interesting and charitable.
It is just a matter of finding the Good in people.
Photo: Evelyn Paris
