Problem: Write an article based on this summary: Practice kindness. View friends as equals. Be funny. Be yourself.

Answer: Kindness makes the person doing it and the person receiving it happy. People want to be around people who are habitually kind. Treat everyone with respect and do little things to help out people who you can see are struggling with something. You’d be surprised at the impact even the smallest of gestures can have. You shouldn’t look down on your friends and you shouldn’t treat them like royalty either. People don’t like it when other people think they are better than them. At the same time, most people get uncomfortable when it’s clear that someone has low self-esteem in comparison to them. At the end of the day, we’re all just people. Try to remember this at all times. If this is something you continually struggle with, put an effort into thinking about what you are going to say and how people might see it. It shouldn’t like you’re trying to be mean to your friend to yourself. If you monitor yourself carefully, your habits will naturally change in time. It’s not a secret – people like to laugh. Make jokes when it’s appropriate. It’s ok to tease someone, but don’t say anything that is genuinely mean-spirited. You’ll be happier finding the humor in the little things and people will want to spend more time with you. Don’t worry if you aren’t a natural comedian. A good way to be funny is to surround yourself with people, media, and things that make you laugh. Watch comedies and listen to comedians. Take some time to relax each day if you have a stressful schedule. It won’t happen overnight, but soon you’ll be more comfortable doing things and cracking jokes that make people laugh. There’s no point in trying to be a different person because you think someone will like you more that way. Unless they’re not terribly perceptive, they’ll be able to see straight through your act. No one wants to hang out with posers. Being yourself will attract friends who like you for you, not for what you’re trying to be. Being your genuine self means being open, honest, and sincere about who you are. It also means keeping your word and being trustworthy. Practice being genuine with yourself and others. This will help you build your relationships with others, as well as your self-confidence.


Problem: Write an article based on this summary: Create and respond to emails as if they represent you. Convey a proper tone in texts and emails. Begin and end online communications in a personable, professional manner. Be clear and to the point. Be friendly. Show discretion when having social media conversations. Make your point without being abrasive. Refrain from antagonizing the community. Don’t respond to conversations that will upset you or drag you further into negativity. Use texting to converse with others. Practice common courtesy when texting. Stay connected with family.

Answer: Online conversations are becoming more and more an essential part of the daily experience including all forms of education. Your words represent who you are and your personal brand, so putting your best foot forward is important. If you don’t have the benefit of a face-to-face conversation, your image is formed by crafting online communication. Be mindful that the tone of your texts and emails can get lost. Conversations in e-form are one-dimensional and can be misunderstood. You don’t have the benefit of seeing a person face-to-face to observe the body language, voice tone, and emotion of a conversation.  Be polite in your choice of words. Refrain from using all capital letters throughout the text or email. This will be perceived as yelling. Use emoticons, a small facial icon portraying an emotion, to clarify the emotional intent of your comments and conversations. For example, always include a greeting such as, “Dear _____, I was excited to see your email today and thought I would reach out.”  Sign off of by saying, “Thank you for allowing me to explain my situation. I look forward to your reply. Respectfully submitted, _____.” If you have a question, quickly get to asking it. Depending on the recipient, you may only have a few seconds to hook the person’s attention. Treat others as you would like to be treated. Even if you need to express a conflict or dissatisfaction you can maintain a professional demeanor. For example, “Dear ____, It has come to my attention that there has been an error made by your company. I am contacting you today to resolve the matter and hope that the issue can be settled without taking further action.” Whether you spend an hour per day or per month online, everyone has an online reputation. The power of positive actions and the devastating consequences of an online fail can change your circumstances in a heartbeat. Each comment you make on social media is either the potential start of a conversation, or a response that can further the conversation. For example, you can say, “I understand why you are upset, and I need to tell you why I am too.”  Pause before you make any comments. Ask yourself, “Will this offend, belittle, or cause me problems in my future interaction?” Pause twice before you hit send. Remember you can’t get something back once you send it. The anonymous nature of online commenting carries a potential to unleash the mob mentality. If you start an online conversation on a social media site and someone doesn’t like the comment, a herd of haters may join you. Reasonable people can turn into irresponsible people because they believe no one will catch them or punish them. If someone says something to you, turn the other cheek. Positive comments will almost always elicit positive responses. Stick with those types of comments and every online conversation will be positive. Text messaging allows you to stay in touch with those you care about. Some age groups use it more than others, and some abuse texting to the point of causing health problems. Texting is a very useful tool in today’s conversations. When life is busy, you don’t always have the time to call or talk to someone you care about. If a person sends you a text, respond to them in a reasonable amount of time. The same common courtesies you would demonstrate in a face-to-face conversation need to be demonstrated in text conversations.  If you send a text and you do not get a response, don’t pout about it. Send a second text and ask if the person received it. If it bothers you that someone doesn’t respond to your text messages you can say, “Hi, can you do me a favor and at least respond with the letter “K” when I send you a text. At least that tells me you received it and I won’t have to worry about it.” If your grandparents are set up to e-mail and text, send them texts to let them know you love and care for them. Grandparents feel ignored at times and benefit from knowing that you are doing well. If they are capable and interested, they are never too old to learn something new.


Problem: Write an article based on this summary: Be patient with yourself. Show more gratitude. Stop comparing yourself to others. Quit caring what people think. Be less of a perfectionist. Focus on the journey. Find your purpose.

Answer:
One reason you may not feel that your life is enriching is because you believe that you’re not doing enough to achieve your potential. You may feel like the rewards can’t come soon enough and that you won’t be truly happy until you’ve found a better job, found your soulmate, or found your dream home; however, you should know that these things will come and that you’ll get where you need to be if you keep working hard.  Focus on achieving small goals and know that you can choose to feel happy and fulfilled any time you want. You don’t need to feel like a failure or a loser just because you haven’t gotten where you’ve wanted to go quite yet. Make a list of all of the things you’ve accomplished and that you’re proud of. You’ll see that you’ve been working hard along the way and that you should already feel fulfilled and happy with yourself. Making an effort to be grateful for all of the things you have can make you live a more enriching life. Take the time to appreciate all of the things that you may have been taking for granted, from your friends and family to your health, or even the amazing climate in the place where you live. Though it sounds corny, remembering how many people there are who are less fortunate than you are and being thankful for what you have instead of bemoaning what you lack can make you live a more enriching and happier life.  Make a gratitude list at least once a week. Write down every little thing you’re thankful for and then tape this list above your desk or keep it in your wallet. When you’re feeling down, read over the list to remind yourself of all of the great things you have going for you. Take the time to thank people, from your waitress to your mother, for all they have done for you. Look for opportunities to express gratitude and to let people know that what they do for you really does matter. You’ll never live an enriching life if you spend all of your time trying to keep up with the Joneses. Don’t try to compare your relationship, your body, your house, or anything else you possess to what other people have, or you’ll always come up short. There will always be people who have something “better” than you do—just like there will always be people who are far worse off—and you’ll never be able to live your life on your own terms if you only care about comparing yourself to everyone around you.  Remember that what’s great for your neighbor or your best friend may not be the best for you. Focus on doing what you need to make your life better and learn to shut out the other voices. Spending hours on Facebook can lead you to feel that your life, relationship, vacations, or family aren’t nearly as good as everyone else’s. If spending a lot of time on social media makes you feel inadequate about your own life, just stop. If you’re in a serious relationship, focus on doing what’s right for you based on your own timeline instead of trying to move in together, get engaged, or get married based on another couple’s standards. Of course, it can be easier said than done to stop caring about what other people think of you completely. However, you can start to make an effort to do what’s best for you instead of what you think will make other people think you’re gorgeous, successful, savvy, or interesting. In the end, the best thing you can do is to make yourself happy, and if you do that, you’ll be able to drown out the noise anyway.  The best way to live an enriching life is to improve yourself and to feel good about the choices you make. If you do this, it won’t matter if people think you’re the greatest thing since sliced bread. Learn to follow your heart. If you want to study theatre instead of law, which is what your parents want, learn to accept that your life will be more enriching if you follow your dreams. Another way to live a more enriching life is to stop caring about doing everything perfectly all the time. You should be comfortable with making mistakes and learning from them instead of with getting everything right on the first try. Sure, your life will feel a lot safer if you continue to make easy choices without messing up, but it will be far more rewarding and enriching if you’re comfortable with taking the wrong path sometimes, knowing that it will lead you to the right one.  If you’re too focused on being perfect, then you won’t have time to step back and enjoy your life on its own terms, mistakes and all. Once you accept that you’ll never be 100% right all the time, you’ll be able to make much more interesting choices. If you really want to create meaningful bonds with people, then you have to let them see who you really are, flaws and all. If you want everyone to see you as this perfect person with no vulnerabilities, then people won’t feel like they can ever really open up to you or trust you. If you spend your whole life racing toward a goal, you’ll never be able to appreciate all of the little moments of joy along the way. You’ll also inevitably feel disappointed once you do reach that goal, whether it’s to make partner at your law firm or to get married. If you want to live an enriching life and to enjoy every moment of it, then you have to stop and remember to be proud of or grateful for every little step you take along the way.  You don’t want to look back on your life and wonder where all of those years went. Make an effort to live in the moment instead of always thinking ahead to the future, and you’ll be able to live a much more fulfilling, enjoyable life. Make more of an effort to do things “just because.” Not every step you take or person you meet has to help you become more successful. Besides, if you’re never spontaneous, who knows how many opportunities you may miss out on over the course of your life. This may seem like a daunting task, but if you really want to live a more enriching life, then you can’t just go through the motions; you have to find the thing that makes your life worth living. Your purpose doesn’t have to be to succeed in some fancy, challenging career, either; it can be to help other people achieve their goals, to raise your children in a supportive environment, to write fiction even if you’ll never make money doing it, or just to do whatever it is you were meant to do.  If you feel like you’ve just been going through the motions and don’t really know what your life’s purpose is, then it’s worth it to take some time to slow down and do some soul-searching and to try new things in order to find it. Remember that it’s never too late. It’s okay if you don’t find an all-consuming purpose to give your life meaning. Just making an effort to steer your life in the direction of something that means a lot to you can make a big difference.