Bad Characteristic or Habit

This week’s journal entry:

Write about one bad characteristic or habit you don’t like about yourself. What is it, and why do you not like it?

By Laura Black

Most people would say being nice is a good habit or characteristic to have, but for me, I’m too nice most of the time. Being too nice tends not always to be a good thing.

Yes, being nice is something everyone should practice. I’ve met many people that should be nice or nicer, but for me, I like to think I’m always nice. I tend, however, to take it that step further and be too nice.

Here’s why being too nice becomes a problem. For one, people know I’m nice and pretty easy-going, so they know to expect that of me. Yes, that’s a good quality to have and to be known for; however, if I’m having an extremely bad day and I’m not nice, then I’m seen as being out of character and mean. So, I feel like I’m not allowed to be anything but nice all the time.

Because I always feel like I have to be nice, I then tend to be too nice. Being too nice tends to get me into trouble in the sense that many people seem to take advantage of that. More often than I’d like to admit, I feel like people tend to use me or take advantage of me because I’m too nice – too nice to say no, too nice to say how I really feel, too nice to want to be mean, too nice not to help out.

Now, I’m not saying it’s good to be mean. It’s definitely not. It’s always better to be nice than mean, but sometimes I just want to be mean and not feel bad about it. Okay, maybe not to be mean but to express what I truly feel without feeling bad about it because I’m always expected or known to be nice.

Unfortunately for me, I guess I don’t know how to be anything but nice. For everyone else, that’s what they’ll always know of me. I guess part of that goes back to what I was taught long ago: “If you don’t have anything nice to say, then don’t say anything at all.” As hard as that is to follow from time to time, I do practice that. Some, I guess, would see that as a good characteristic or habit, and some would see it as not. Either way, I will do what I do best…be nice whether it’s good or bad. That’s just me.