How to be a nice human

how-to-be-a-nice-human

I think it might be the full moon, or mercury retrograde, or that people are stressed, or that the price of chocolate is going up {or the size of the blocks is going down} or all of those things rolled into one… but I think some people are forgetting how to be nice human beings.

So I’m here to help. I’m flying in with my pink cape, and I’m saving the day.

Here’s how to be nice:

♥ Say please and thank you.
♥ Don’t sweat the small stuff {and if you’re not sure if it’s small stuff that you’re sweating, let me tell you it’s the small stuff, stop sweating already}.
♥ Use your blinkers when driving {and wave a thank you if someone lets you in}.
♥ Pick your battles.
♥ Know that you’re better than no one. We’re all equal. {Yep, you’re not better than your neighbour, or that lady in the street. You’re not}.
♥ Think before you speak. Are you words going to improve the silence? Is it kind? Is it productive? Is it even necessary?
♥ Nobody likes an a$$hole. I hate to say it, but nobody does, so don’t be one.
♥ Give more than you take.
♥ Ask yourself how you can improve the world, even just a little, and go and do that. Be THAT person who makes the world better, not worse. Start with doing one thing each day.
Watch this video. And as Jim Carrey says, “The effect you have on others is the most valuable currency there is. Cos everything you gain in life will rot and fall apart and all that will be left of you, is all that was in your heart”. Deep but true.
♥ Leave the world a better place for you having been here. It doesn’t mean that you have to climb mountains to make a point, or save the world. Just do small things. Don’t throw your stuff where it shouldn’t go. Smile at a stranger. Really listen to that person telling their story. Make someone a cake. Pick some flowers for someone. Do something good.
♥ And if someone isn’t a nice human to you, don’t let it get inside you and turn your heart black. Dust yourself off, get back up again, give them the invisible finger and go on and be the nice human that they’re not. And if you can’t ‘shake it off’ that easy, put on your favourite song and dance. It always helps.

What have you got to add?

34 thoughts on “How to be a nice human”

  1. Fantastic list, I think we all need reminding of these things sometimes. I can certainly think of one or two people who I would like to pass this onto! xxx

  2. So lovely and so true. A dear friend taught me the power of a heartfelt ‘thank you’ and it is amazing what it can do. I swear she is reviving the dying art of the thank you note one person at a time – I’m a complete convert! So thank YOU for a beautiful post

  3. that last one….perfect timing! Some total stranger just said I was fat and “gross”. Thanks very much! So, they really got the invisible middle finger from me! Now I am off to dance. 🙂

  4. Whenever I park in a ‘pay and display’ car park, I always give my ticket to someone entering the car park if there is some time left on the ticket. This is always appreciated!

  5. Smile back when a stranger smiles at you. I almost always walk with my head up & smile at anyone who meets my eyes but the amount of people who don’t smile back makes me sad.
    Tell people when you think they are doing something great. Your real life people & your online people! It’s always nice to hear you are doing something good.
    Talk to strangers. Whether it be in the line of grocery shop or while you are waking to get your kid at school. You never know how much that person may need a little human interaction ( says the fifo wife).

    And for the record, I think you are a super nice person Chantelle x

  6. Put away the phone on public transport and be open to having conversations. Just yesterday I sat next to a lady on the bus and we started chatting about the weather. It led to a conversation about children, which led her to sharing that her son had died two years ago to the day and she was feeling so very lost. She really needed to talk to someone and share her son in that moment.

  7. Do things with no expectation of anything in return it will teach kindness for both and do that and viola your spreading the love and kindness- because it’s that easy right 😉 xD

  8. Be honest. Be real. Know yourself. Always be striving for more knowledge. As for smiling at strangers, some people are cripplingly shy, to say someone isn’t nice because they don’t smile at strangers is a bit unfair I feel, particularly given as a woman on the street I often do not want to smile at strange men, nor should I feel like I have to or that I will be called not nice for not doing so. I think I’d prefer to see more people being kind, not necessarily ‘nice’ – sometimes tough decisions need to be made, but you can always be kind.

  9. I love this post and it’s so true that people just get stuck in their own petty dramas and forget kindness when really it’s the only thing that matters in the end. The only thing I would add is not to feel entitled to anything really. The littles I look after have a great quote from their creche which is “You get what you get and you don’t get upset.”. I use it all the time to remember to humble my expectations and even have it on my blackboard to help me remember. Beautiful post Chantelle! Cheers!

    http://www.HankeringYankee.com

  10. Can I use this and post this up at work? I think some people forget that the person behind the counter working in retail is another person. I would also like to add, wait your turn, do not push in. The person in front of you is just as important as you are.

  11. Oooh the blinkers and the courtesy wave really bother me. I want to chase them down and pick up their arm and make them wave at me….

    But I guess that’s when I should remind myself of your last point. Which is actually really good timing… I had a couple of women really go to town on me this weekend over something I wrote on my Facebook page. It upset me for days. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I had DOZENS of really nice and supportive comments, but I couldn’t appreciate them because of the nasty ones. What an idiot I am. Must always focus on the beautiful people. They deserve space in my head. Not the twats.

    My addition: NOTICE PEOPLE. Recognise that there are people around you. It’s not just you in your own little bubble. You’re in a community. Step to the left when you’re walking towards someone, smile at the person at the register, don’t stand right in the middle of the escalator, just generally be considerate of the people around you. Open your eyes and notice people.

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