There are occasions that help me to remember that the human race is, in fact, worth whatever aggravation may come from being nice.
After a rather lousy Friday, I went LiveBait at Perishable, and as always, I felt myself become inspired by the fact that every time someone goes up, they share something personal, funny, touching, or just plain interesting.
Lately, I've been constantly reminding myself that everyone has a story, and the easiest way to be nice to people is to realize that their story is as good, as difficult, and as complicated as mine is.
It's one thing to say that in your own head, but it's another to actually hear those stories out loud.
If I had to pick a misconception people have about me, it would be that everyone knows everything about me. People think because I talk and blog and write that there's nothing personal about me that everybody doesn't already know. What most people don't realize is that I talk and blog and write to distract from the fact that I keep a lot more in than I put out there.
I don't intentionally keep things from people, and there isn't much that I wouldn't share, but there's a lot I don't offer up either.
Going to LiveBait reminds me that a lot of people do the same thing. So when you see someone in a bad mood, or hear someone say something they shouldn't, or watch someone make a mistake, it's best to remember that you're only seeing a tenth or a tenth of a tenth of what's really going on inside of them.
I think keeping that in mind is the best way to keep kindness in mind as well.
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