INPUT ARTICLE: Article: Many people are mean to others in order to feel better about themselves. However, this approach may not really be effective, especially if you want to be nicer to others. You might lash out at someone, feel better in the moment, but then feel bad about yourself later for lashing out. Other reasons that you are being mean may include: You cannot handle your own negative emotions, so you lash out at others. Your ego feels threatened, so you are mean as a form of defense. You envy someone else's life or accomplishments, so you want to hurt them. You are projecting your own negative feelings about yourself on someone else. You are trying to make yourself feel unique and distinct from other people by distinguishing differences between you in a mean way. It can be difficult to determine what is a thought and what is a feeling. In fact, the two interrelate: your thoughts affect your feelings. Your feelings, in turn, affect your actions. Thus, if you want to change your actions (or words), you can start by first changing your thoughts. For example, if you think, "This guy is an idiot!" you may feel frustrated talking to him, and that will come across in your words and actions. If, however, you think, "This person needs to learn more about the topic," you might be more inclined to teach him, and your increased patience will come through your words. Remember that even when you feel that you cannot control your thoughts or feelings, you can always choose how to act. Each time you speak or act, you are making a choice about what words and actions you use. If you are speaking to someone and feel as though you are about to be mean to them, give yourself time to think before you respond. You're more likely to give the person a productive response (and less likely to be mean) if you allow yourself to use reason first. If you are feeling particularly angry, resentful, hurt, or sad, you may want to wait to talk to others. These emotions can stand in the way of positive communication and cause you to lash out at someone else. Write entries about how you interacted with people throughout the day. If you had incidents in which you were mean, try to recall details about who you were mean to, why you think you were mean, what you said, and what events led up to the incident. If you were able to be nice to others, particularly in situations in which your tendency would normally be to be mean, then reward yourself for "good behavior." Building a cache of journal entries about your meanness can help you identify whether there are people, events, or environments that seem to "trigger" your tendency to act mean. Identifying your triggers gives you the opportunity to work towards improving in those situations in the future. Being able to laugh easily (with people, not at people), can help humor override your tendencies to be mean. If you are beginning to feel impatient and think you might be mean to someone, try to find a reason to laugh. Finding humor in a situation or getting yourself laughing about something else can diffuse the situation by actually changing your body's chemical reaction from anger or negativity to humor. You need to get plenty of sleep (at least 7-8 hours) every night to thrive. Being sleep deprived can contribute to a wide range of health problems, including the inability to manage emotions properly. Getting adequate sleep can help you have the patience and understanding to be nice to others regardless of your emotional state. If you have chronic sleep problems, consult your physician or a pharmacist about safe sleep aids. Alternately, making dietary changes, such as reducing caffeine and sugar consumption, or lifestyle changes, such as reducing nighttime screen time, may enable you to sleep better at night. Meditation can help you regulate your emotions, which can help you be nicer. If you are feeling as though you might be unkind to someone due to feeling angry or impatient, give yourself a little mental refresher through meditation. Find a private, quiet place, then follow the following sequence: Breathe deeply and slowly. Deep breaths can slow your heart rate and make you feel calmer. Your breaths should be deep enough that your belly extends outwards on the "in" breath. Picture a golden-white light filling your body as you breathe in. Picture that light filling and relaxing your mind. When you breathe out, visualize dark, muddy colors leaving your body. Once you are calm from your meditation, you should feel more ready to speak to others in a kind way.

SUMMARY: Think about why you act mean. Realize that your thoughts, feelings, and actions are connected. Gain control of your emotions before you speak. Keep a "be nice" journal. Cultivate a sense of humor. Sleep well at night. Meditate before potentially stressful events or conversations.

INPUT ARTICLE: Article: Start with a square of origami paper (colored side up). Turn it so that it looks like a diamond. Fold the top of the diamond all the way down to the bottom and crease. Unfold, then make another fold, taking the left tip over to the right one, and crease. Unfold once again. Flip the paper over. Turn it so that it is oriented like a square again. Fold the top left and right corners down to the bottom ones and crease. Unfold, then take the top and bottom corners on the left and fold them over to the corresponding corners on the right. Crease at the fold, and unfold your paper again. Turn your paper so that it is diamond shaped again and fold the top to the bottom. It will look like a triangle. Push the left and right tips into the interior of the triangle until they reach the bottom tip, and crease. The paper should now look like a smaller square with upper and lower flaps. Turn it so that looks like a diamond. Take the tips of the upper flaps on the left and right and fold them to the center of the square. Make creases, then unfold. Take the top flap of the diamond and fold it downwards. Crease it to make a line running between the folds made by the right and left flaps. The tip of the top should touch the center crease. Unfold the top flap. Lift the upper flap, starting from the bottom of the diamond. Keep lifting it upwards until it lies flat. The sides of the upper flap should fold inwards at the same time. Press the folds. Flip your paper over and work with the flap on the other side (originally the lower flap, now facing upwards) to make creases on its left, right, and top tips. The lift the flap from the bottom until it lies flat, as you did before. Press all of the folds. Your paper should now look like a narrow diamond shape. One of the points will be separated into two sections that you can move freely. Turn the paper so that these face downwards. Take the right section and fold it diagonally, just below the left point of the diamond, so that the tip points upward and slightly to the left. Do the opposite on the right side, then unfold. Make an outside reverse fold on the right section by pushing the outer edge of inward, and pulling it upwards until it reaches the diagonal fold you made. Make an inside revers fold on the left section by pushing its inner fold inwards and pulling it upwards until it reaches the diagonal fold. Press the folds again to neaten them. You paper should now look roughly like a bird, with a narrow neck and tail/legs, and two wings in the middle. Make another outside reverse fold on the very tip of the neck to make a head for your bird. Right now, you paper will resemble a bird with both wings pointing directly upwards. Make a slightly diagonal fold on each wing so that it is raised up a bit on the side closest to the head. Crease the folds,then lift the wings up so they stick out to the right and left of the bird. Your bird is now ready to "fly"! Gently pull and push on its tail to make its wings flap up and down.

SUMMARY:
Fold your paper diagonally. Make horizontal and vertical folds. Fold the top corners to the bottom. Make creases on the left and right. Fold the top down. Open the upper flap. Repeat on the other side. Make the bird's legs and neck. Fold the bird's head. Make the bird's wings. Make your bird's wings flap.