Sometimes, it’s hard to go through life being “nice”. People tend to think of nice people as being dumb and easy to take advantage of. They associate niceness with weakness and pretty soon you start to wonder if it is in your best interest to be a nice person. What does it mean to be nice anyways? In my opinion, a nice person is someone who is generally pleasant and goes about their day not trying to make others’ lives miserable. They care about others, lend a helping hand when someone is in need and try to make others happy sometimes even at the expense of their own happiness. It’s easy to see the slippery slope a nice person can fall into if they care too much about others and keep sacrificing their own needs for the sake of others. At what point does a person go from being nice to being just plain stupid and a pushover?
It’s a fine line but I believe that there is a big difference between someone who is nice and someone who is stupid or a pushover. A nice person is someone who consciously makes a choice in any given situation to respond “nicely” where as a pushover feels as if being nice and complying is the only choice. A nice person may even go as far as to voluntarily let others take advantage of them in a situation but they are aware of making that choice. Being nice in that sense is actually a great strength of character and not a weakness by any means. Another important distinction between a nice person and a pushover is that nice people have principles that guide their behavior and boundaries that must be honored. As soon as the line is crossed, a nice person can quickly change their mind and stop playing the nice game. They wouldn’t be vengeful or malicious which again is a sign of strength not weakness but you will know very clearly that the party is over.
So, what’s my point after all? My point is that if you are someone who people generally regard as being nice, be proud of it not ashamed. The world needs more nice people not less. Yes, sometimes you will get hurt assuming the best in others and giving them a chance. And sometimes, you will start to wonder if you are dumb. But the price of sheltering yourself from those disappointments and becoming a selfish, self-absorbed person is just too high. Just remember that you are the one in control and uphold those boundaries you set for yourself to not fall down that slippery slope…
Thank you.
Great article. It’s unfortunate that so many people take advantage and try to take more than they already receive from someone nice, instead of feeling obligated to repay in kind.