HUGH despaired over all the bad news he was seeing on the internet.

“If my newsfeed was to be believed,” he said, “the world was in an awful state and there was practically nothing good out there.”

He could have just complained. Instead, he set up a newsletter – he calls it The Hughsletter – which goes out by email. Each issue begins with a list of beautiful things he saw that week. Being committed to doing the newsletter each week, he now looks for beauty more. And, as a result, he finds more.

It’s very true. We find what we look for. And what is more worth looking for than beauty? Why not borrow Hugh’s personal challenge? Keep a notebook, or share the challenge with a friend over coffee, and see how much beauty – or kindness, or love or whatever – you can find. HELEN works in a community café that feeds the homeless and hungry. This day all they had to give was sliced sausage in a bread roll and tea or coffee. One man complained there was no soup course or onions to go on the sausage.

“I guess he doesn’t appreciate that you are a volunteer,” I said.

Just then, a man who had quietly taken a roll a few minutes before came up and told Helen how much he had enjoyed it. The man who complained finished his roll with a scowl and left without a word.

“Which one of them do you think enjoyed their food the most?” Helen asked me. “We think of appreciation as something we give to others, but actually it adds sweetness to our own lives and extra flavour to even the most basic meal.”