Saturday, July 04, 2009

Being Nice

Every year until now the family has gone on vacation. This year we rented a wonderful home on the beach in South Carolina (after visiting grandma for a day or so). The funny thing about vacations is that they often require a bunch of family members to be confined to small space, share meals for the week, and make decisions together. Here is my conclusion after being with the people that I love in cramped space for a week.

Close proximity demands being nice and being flexible.

It seems trite and perhaps, at first blush, a bit juvenile to say it. But being nice is important. Relationships are tough and hang on a thread many times- being nice is important to the survival of even the most tightly bonded relationships.

whether the relationships are family or working relationships there are demands placed upon the proximity. Though we are told to be nice since childhood we are loosing the art of being nice. Part of this is the disconnectedness of our generation. Electric media separates people. Our lack of being together places less demands on being nice. Politics, job relationships, family- etc they all show the lose of being nice. Below are some tips

1. Smile. Maybe just view everything positively.
2. Say hello. act friendly.
3. Ask people how they are doing. Ask some personal questions.
4. Be a good listener.
5. Be courteous.
6. Be positive.
7. Be humble.
8. Offer to help.
9.Be sincere.
10. Assume the best about others.

Remember the Golden Rule: Treat others the way you want to be treated. Even though some people may not be nice to you at first, they will the more they get to know you.

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