When a friend arrives late for an appointment, instead of saying, “What if you’re late again today?” try saying, “It must have been tough getting here!”
When a junior coworker makes frequent mistakes, instead of saying, “Did you mess up again?” try saying, “Well, that can happen!”
When you cannot reach your sibling in an urgent moment, instead of saying, “Why don’t you ever answer your phone?” try saying, “I’m just glad nothing bad happened!”
By turning question marks into exclamation points, negativity fades and positivity takes its place.