My Defense of Nice

Yesterday I posted a quote on my Facebook page:

Treat everyone with politeness even those who 
are rude to you not because they 
are not nice but because you are nice. ~ Anonymous

I love this quote and so did quite a few other people.  Someone even shared a story of her daughter's struggle with her own niceness.

Somewhere in our society we lost the joy in just being NICE.

• Being polite to the guy serving us our coffee.
• Offering a smile to the ticket agent at the airport.
• Saying Thanks to the woman clearing your table.
• Or engaging in a conversation with the janitor at your office. 

We have forgotten how to be nice.  You can blame it on how busy we have all become or our short attention spans, or even reality TV.  But I say we have become lazy, we have become complacent and we have become disengaged.  And it doesn't really matter why this is the new societal norm.  It matters that we start changing it.   Changing the mentality from self protection and 'what are you going to do for me?'  to loving openness and 'what can I do for you?'

Nice gets a bad wrap.  Being nice is no longer valued; it is looked on as 'too vanilla and bland'.  In some worlds it is better to be called a bitch then to be called Nice.

Today I want to dispel a few rumors about the word Nice.

• Nice doesn't mean you are a victim.  
• Nice doesn't mean you put up with abuse.  
• Nice doesn't mean you don't speak your mind and live your truth.
• Nice means you treat other people with respect.
• Nice means you can recognize your needs and the needs of those around you and lovingly know when your needs are important and when the other's needs are important. 
• Nice means you are open to people. You notice them. 
• Nice means you recognize people make mistakes and you are able to discern when those mistakes are too risky for you to stick around and when those mistakes just need a little more love. 
• Nice feels good.  Nice feels engaged, open and friendly.
• Nice isn't for the weak of heart.  
• Nice requires thoughtfulness and loving boundaries.

So today just try a little nice. 

What are your thoughts on Nice?  When has being nice felt good and when has being nice felt painful?

Photo Credit:  SweetonVeg via Flickr