Ways
of
Praise

You know,

because humans like and want different things from each other,

to avoid fighting they need to be Tolerant.

Being Tolerant is when you let someone else choose something that you wouldn't choose yourself,

whether it be the way they choose to think about things or what they choose to do.

Now that's not easy when they may well think that you don't understand things in the right way

and that you are making the wrong choices in what you do,

feeling the same way about you as you feel about them.

In that situation it's easy for a disagreement to turn into an argument and then into a fight.

But the Ways of Praise have a way of spreading from one person to another.

As their name suggests, these Ways draw praise from other people,

because they are a Way of Being that human beings really can't help themselves from liking.

So they tend to reflect back on the one that has them.

A loving smile from one human to another will most often get a smile back,

and in the same way, people are usually more Tolerant towards other people

when they realise that those other people are also having to be Tolerant towards them.

And so it builds between people until they have all the blessings of a Tolerant community,

and a smiling community,

and Muhammad the Messenger was the most smiling of men.

The Praiseworthy Ways of Being are sometimes known as the Virtues,

and although they are good for us they don't always come easily,

so we need to work hard to make our Virtues stronger.

What other Ways of Being do you think might be useful?

Do you let Time mess you around?

Why does life sometimes seem like a struggle?

Should young people be nice to old people?