Imagine a man is at home with his woman watching TV on a Saturday afternoon. Suddenly a a car pulls up in front of the house. The woman rushes to the window, elated, as though she’s a little girl about to receive two balls of cotton candy and a lollipop. The man, perplexed, watches on in awe while waiting to see how the scene all plays out. Little does he know there’s a price of being too nice.
“Where are you going?” he asks. And his woman replies, “A friend just came to visit.” The woman rushes through the front door in a bra and panty to greet said “friend.” The man of the house then gets up and peers through the curtains obscuring his window.
The Price of being too nice
As the man looks on he sees another man flirting with his woman in the middle of the street. And she blushes in response to his brashness. Yes, they were flirting in front of HIS house—the one that he single-handedly pays a mortgage for. And after 20 minutes of talking, the strange man winks at the woman then he drives away in his shiny BMW, leaving the woman waving at him with the biggest smile on her face.
She returns to the house and excitedly tells her man, “Oh my God, Darren’s soooooo funny! You should meet him next time.” The man, though annoyed, contains his emotions and simply responds, “Sure.” The next week the trio end up having dinner at his house. And they all lived happily ever after … like hell they did!
It could happen to you!
The above is actually based on a true story and odds are there are many other stories just like it. So many sayings come to mind the more you think about it. E.g. “If you give someone an inch they will take a mile” and “never let someone get comfortable disrespecting you.” Such advice is not gender, race or age specific; it can apply to anyone and should therefore be taken very seriously.
A lot of people will observe particular things happening to others and immediately believe that it would never happen to them. They would say the culprits are being too nice and need to “man up.” But they would be surprised. Because there’s a good chance that it’s long been happening in some aspect of their lives.
Ways you are being too nice
Every time you give in to something you don’t really have to do but do anyway there’s a chance you are being too nice. Conversely, if you refuse to do something that you really need to do it can also mean you are being too nice.
Case in point: Your spouse wants to go to the movies and you don’t but you go with them anyway. Your daughter curses you for telling her to go do her homework and you let her have her way. Your boss impulsively triples your workload and halves your pay and you simply accept it without a debate. There are just endless ways someone can end up being “too nice”. So it’s important not to judge others based on a single scenario.
Kindness has a limit
Nevertheless, there should be a limit to everything. Surely being nice is a good thing but you need to know when to put your foot down. Refusing to stand up for yourself will consistently make you a doormat for everyone else to walk over you whenever they feel like.
Learn to say no. If you do not learn this you’re going to pay a very steep price to live in this world. Perhaps the more alarming thing is the more respect you lose while continuing to be nice, the harder and longer it’s going to take you to get it back, in some cases never at all.
Niceness should not cost your happiness
Do you know what it takes for someone to cheat on you in front of your face? Not a thing! Because in their eyes you’re worth very little. Apply this philosophy to everything in your life. Doing this will ensure that the price someone has to pay for your unwavering kindness and diligence remains high. They will forever think twice about taking you for granted.
Being too nice should not cost you your dignity, being too nice should not cost you eternal happiness. Pay only as much as you can afford to give or risk forever being seen as someone who is so nice that anyone can just walk up to you and slap you in the face.
