You can tell if a person is good by:
- How they behave when no-one is watching.
- How they treat their parents.
- If they have kindness and compassion towards animals (even if they don’t own or want a pet)
- If they are patient and respectful of the elderly, who may be slow, cranky, confused or lonely
- If they are kind and patient with young children who may be cranky, slow, unreasonable and demanding
- When they care about how their actions affect other people, whether it’s by not talking loudly on their cell phone in public or by walking a few extra steps to put their shopping cart away or by a kind word to someone being unkind to them.
- How they treat people who are serving them (cashiers, cleaners, waiters, etc) especially when things are not going well.
- How generous they are, not necessarily financially, but in general – with their time, willingness to listen or to help others even when it doesn’t benefit them
- The way they treat their friends, especially when their friends need to hear the truth due to addiction, abuse, etc.
- When they demonstrate the ability to respect the choices, beliefs, lifestyle, opinions, decisions of other people – even if they themselves do not agree with them (this obviously would not apply if any of those things were harmful to anyone)
Good people are those who live their lives with integrity and grace and the willingness to stand up for what’s right without being hateful or disrespectful to others and the willingness to show mercy to someone who has hurt them and is truly sorry. Good people conduct their lives with purpose and do their best at whatever they are doing, no matter how menial society might think it is.
Good people are able to see the good in others – no matter how different they might be.
