It’s that time of year – the time where we celebrate capitalism and the whites taking over America, otherwise known as Christmas and Thanksgiving. How profound. We spend one Thursday a year dedicated to being thankful, and then spend the next day plowing through department store aisles for deals that aren’t that great.

     In addition to that, it’s also the season of forced kindness. We’re guilt-tripped into thinking of other people when we see a horrible tweet about a grandpa getting stood up by his grandchildren. Upon seeing this, we’re inspired, and we vow to spend as much time as possible with our family, because every day is a gift. But, we continue to do the bare minimum — unless you’re a good person.

     See what I just did? Guilt trip!

     Spend time with your family.

     Why is it that most of us only think of others in the two months where we have to? We shouldn’t have to be guilt-tripped into doing something nice for another person. It should just be our first instinct.

     Instead of waking up and thinking, what am I going to do today?, we should wake up and think, what am I going to do for others today?

     In this “Selfie Sunday” culture we live in, putting ourselves first is almost habitual. While it’s healthy to take some time to focus on your own needs, putting others’ needs before your own wants is what we should strive towards.

     Think about it — in a healthy romantic relationship, are you always thinking of ways your significant other could benefit you? No! That’s selfish. In a romantic relationship, your S.O. becomes one of your priorities. So, you should be trying to think of things you can do that would make them happy (not all the time though — remember, I said a healthy romantic relationship). Maybe that means pooling some money together and buying you and your S.O. a room in Top Golf for a couple hours. Maybe that means writing them a couple cute sticky notes to put on their rearview mirror. Please take them off before you drive though. Safety first!

     Okay, enough with romantic relationships; we see enough of that in the hallways.

     At this point in our lives, the people we spend the most time with are our family and friends. You see all sides of them, whether you like it or not. You know their needs – if you’re a good person (guilt trip!) and you know what their situation is (living, mental, etc.).

     Put yourself in their shoes for once. I know, I know, it’s really cliché, but it does give you a better perspective.

     When your mom comes home and immediately starts yelling at you, your first response shouldn’t be one of anger. You should take a step back and consider how her day went. If your mom happens to be a teacher like mine, one of her students probably did something stupid to tick her off. Or, it was teacher drama.

     To ease the tension, you can offer to make dinner, you can clean your room (trust me on this one), or you can ask her if she needs to rant to you, so you can sit and listen. You may not want to hear about what the student did during her fifth period, but it will help your mom to get rid of her feelings.

     All in all, we just need to be nicer to each other. There’s so much negativity floating around these days, and while putting others’ needs before your own may not eliminate it, it will make it a little easier to make it through the other ten months of the year.