Don't nitpick; your life can't withstand this.
The worst thing about daily life is nitpicking with a magnifying glass. Even the best relationships can't withstand that kind of torment. People come to offer warmth and comfort, but you insist on acting like a security inspector, finding fault only to push them further away.
The "negative bias" in human nature is truly detrimental. The brain is like a magnet, attracting only unpleasant things, while the good things from others are like dust, easily brushed away.
Old Zhang next door is a prime example of a "nitpicker." A few days ago, his wife went to two different markets under the scorching sun, bringing home a bag of fresh fruit. But because the fruit was slightly sour, Old Zhang immediately berated her: "You don't know how to manage a household! You're just wasting your money!" He completely forgot how sweaty his wife looked while picking out the fruit; all he saw was the sourness, which made his wife so angry she pushed the fruit plate away. In the end, Old Zhang watched other people enjoy their fruit, feeling utterly resentful—it was all his own doing.
And it's not just at home; "nitpicking" at work is even more infuriating. My colleague, Xiao Liu, secretly cursed Zhang, a colleague in his group, for being a time-failure idiot because Zhang's presentation was five minutes overtime. But he immediately forgot that just a few days ago, on that critically urgent project, it was Zhang who pulled two all-nighters, tackling the toughest part and saving the entire group from losing their jobs. One second he was the "pillar of strength," the next a "burden." Sometimes people's memories are shorter than a fish's; they focus only on that five-minute mistake and forget all the hard work they put in before.
My cousin and her husband used to do the same silly things. My cousin complained that her husband didn't change his shoes when he got home, making the floor cleaning pointless; her husband complained that the vegetables she bought weren't fresh, making the food tasteless. They argued about these trivial things every day, making their home as cold as an icebox. Later, my cousin changed her ways. If her husband didn't change his shoes, she would leave an extra pair of slippers by the door; if he complained about the vegetables not being fresh, they would go to the market together. The two stopped focusing on each other's minor flaws and started praising one another—the brother-in-law praised the cousin's cooking, and the cousin praised the brother-in-law for mopping the floor so cleanly. Gradually, laughter filled the house more, and those so-called "flaws" seemed insignificant.
Actually, to live a smooth life, you need to smash those "fault-finding" glasses and put on sunglasses that only see the good. This isn't about playing dumb, but about letting go of your inhibitions. Constantly focusing on others' faults only hurts your own eyes the most. Learn to use a spotlight to find the good points; even if someone simply wiped the table or handed you a glass of water when you were angry, it deserves a mental thumbs-up.
Living life is like farming. Weeding is important, but if you don't distinguish between seedlings and weeds and pull out the seedlings along with them, you'll end up with a barren field and nothing to eat. Water your fields with praise and let them bask in the sunshine of understanding; don't fixate on a few rotten leaves.
If you replace that critical, sour face with a smile, you'll find that the people around you aren't so annoying, and life isn't so troublesome. Less fault-finding, more appreciation, and life will truly blossom.