Want to feel glad? Think of the good in the people you live with.

Where this comes from

Marcus Aurelius had a way to cheer himself up, which he wrote in his private notebook about 1,850 years ago: think of the good in the people you live with. One works hard, one is modest, one is generous.

How you could say it to a five-year-old

“Grumpy? Snack first. Later we can name one thing each of us at home is good at.”

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 6.48. We put these lines into plain English ourselves, staying close to the original and to public-domain translations.