Seeing the Good

Recently, I came across a reflection that stayed with me. It goes like this:

"It does not take great wisdom to see what is wrong. To point out other people’s mistakes, faults, and shortcomings is easy — with almost no effort, we can always find something lacking in others. To focus on their defects, or on how much room they still have for improvement, comes from a rather low level of energy.

What does require greater wisdom? To see another person’s strengths. To notice in them the kind of good that can lift a person higher. That requires wisdom. That requires a high level of energy.

To see the negative requires very little of us. But to truly see the positive in another person is different. Their strengths do not only encourage them — they can also influence others, quietly giving people a sense of a direction they themselves might strive toward."

— Wang Sixun, speaking on the Lüshi Chunqiu

What struck me most is how easy it is to mistake criticism for intelligence and wisdom. There is a difference between seeing clearly and becoming habitually drawn to what is lacking. That way of seeing can become cheap, almost automatic. To see the good in someone requires a certain inner fullness. And when we do, it does more than encourage them — it can quietly remind others of what is possible.