Sit comfortably in a good position for meditation. Relax your body and mind. Let your awareness settle in the present moment by mindfully watching your breath for a few minutes.
Generate a positive, altruistic motivation for doing the meditation. For example, you can think that you are doing it to increase the positive energy in your mind, in order to have more joy to share with others, and to make your life as meaningful and beneficial as possible. You can also think that you are doing it in order to become enlightened so that you can bring the greatest benefit to all beings.
Think back over your life, or over the past few weeks or months, and bring to mind things you have done that were positive – beneficial to others, to yourself, or to both. With each of these actions you recall, fell a sense of rejoicing: "That was a good thing. I'm glad I did it, and would like to do it again." You might recall acts of giving money or other material things; giving love, for example, spending time with someone who was lonely or depressed; giving protection, helping beings who were frightened or in danger; giving spiritual advice, helping others learn how to transform themselves in positive ways. Perhaps you have been trying to live ethically, refraining from harmful, unwise actions such as killing, stealing, lying, or speaking hurtful words, and to act in ways opposite to those. Have you worked on being more patient, kind, compassionate? Have you made attempts to practice meditation, to make your mind more subdued and positive, less out-of-control and negative? Think of other positive actions. Rejoice in all of these, and feel the wish to continue doing them in the future.
— Kathleen McDonald in Awakening the Kind Heart