About praise

A friend named John had a seeing-eye dog named Earl. The first time that I met John and Earl, I instinctively reached down to pat Earl on the head. John said, "Please don't pat him. He gets plenty of love, praise, and attention at home. If you pat him, he will look to be patted the next time he sees you. I might be crossing the street. He might look for a pat on the head instead of doing his job, which is to get me across the street safely."

I often think of Earl. It's easy to go looking for a pat on the head instead of focusing on our primary goal, whether that goal is to help someone get across a street or some equally important, if somewhat ordinary, task.