ICE is the foundation of NICE

Society: A complex body of individuals with somewhat like-minded ideas who ironically strive to achieve individuality whilst remaining illustrative of a unified community.  As a whole, our society tends to act with a mob-like mentality, but as individuals there exists a subtle difference.  In life, we are forced to discover ourselves each day through interpersonal relationships and incidents of mayhem. At the ripe age of 23 I feel I’ve been able to learn a great deal of things in life both about myself as well as others.  For example, I never understood what my mother had meant when she said that as I grew older, I would inexplicably end up with a far fewer amount of friends than I had when I was in grade school. Fact: People suck. Not all of them, but a handful of them do. (Quite literally in fact.) These are the people who you will eventually learn to distance yourself from only after falling victim to the alluring siren appeal they tricked you into believing in the first place. The way that I’ve come to understand life as it has played out to me thus far, however unfair, is that you must face disappointment many times first, before things just start to make sense. People included. Thankfully, overtime, your “life-filter” becomes active, and you can sift through all the B.S. and prevent future hardships but ignoring and excluding these people from your life altogether.

            It is often stated that nice guys finished last, or that they have somehow vanished from the face of the earth altogether. I have only recently begun to challenge this theory for a variety of reasons. Most of them are personal in nature, but applicable nonetheless. So let’s start at the beginning.  Nice guys, nay, NICE PEOPLE do in fact exist.  They appear to be limited in number but I think the reality of the matter is, they just materialize in different ways.  Example: everyone is capable of opening doors, allowing others to sit down when no seats are available, or smiling as a gesture of general kindness. But it is the rare and few who seek nothing in return. It is these people who not only do these actions without thinking, but also will accept the fact that nothing was given in return as a sign of gratitude. It is these individuals who no matter what kind of horrible day has transpired for them, they still manage to plaster a smile upon their face and treat others as close as kin. They have patience and an immeasurable amount of self-control.   Most people have limits. Very short ones even. These are the ones who appear nice and then very suddenly, something goes wrong and you’ve somehow now have a real live case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde on your hands. It takes only an instant, one job, one individual or one event to change a very nice person into a bitter, untrusting, pessimist. So my conclusion on this specific theory is that we’ve somehow as a society, managed to gradually in time but vastly in number turn the “nice guys” into life-sucking, inconsiderate, vindictive, lying individuals. 

            Fact: The world is so full of these spiteful individuals that we have somehow begun to ALWAYS question the validity for someone’s general kindness.  I’ve been told that you CAN in fact kill someone with kindness, though I’ve never seen it actually done before. On a personal note, I’m told almost on a daily basis that I’m TOO nice. I’ve wrestled with this concept for quite some time, and I still remain defensive about it. I don’t really think you can ever be TOO nice to anyone. The fact of the matter is, no matter how undeserving and individual may be of your kindness, you have to accept the fact that in any case, you would want to be treated with the respect you are expected to give others. It’s a simple concept to comprehend, but a difficult one to put into practice it seems.  It is important to consider that you and any other person on this planet lead completely different lives. The hardships YOU face may mean absolutely nothing to any other person, and vice versa. In short, do unto others, as you would wish to be done unto you. Live it, don’t just say it. Have faith that things will get better in the end, that those that hurt you will face the wrath of Karma in the end. 

☮ ♥ & ♫