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Act, don’t react

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One of the Hawaiian principles for a happy life is humility, which is based on the fact that you can never know everything. According to this principle, you always assume that someone else knows more about a subject than you do, because even children learn to observe and listen before they act. For example, if you are in a situation where your first impulse after hearing something the other person has to say is to say something about it, you should stop and listen calmly first and consider whether your own contribution really advances the conversation and the situation. This trains your powers of observation and teaches you to act, not just react. By the way, in Hawaiian this principle is called “Ha’aha’a”…