"Be Nice" - A Guest Contribution

[am4z1ng]

The following article was written by an extremely gifted and extremely intelligent friend of mine. The person wished to remain anonymous, and it was with reluctance that I agreed to that condition, but the person said that anonymity was the only way he or she would ever post on my livejournal. I confess, I changed the opening statement of this

Comments

[am4z1ng]

Somehow it only seemed fitting that I comment:

I dwelled on the first statement for a little while--the one that says its not about the trophies or the awards. That's absolutely true, and I agree with you. I think, though, sometimes the trophies give people confidence in themselves. The more insecure people need reassurances of their greatness, and really we all need that from time to time, but I think sometimes people have to try to convince themselves of their own worth. On the occasion that the person succeeds, I think that's when you get arrogant and rude people. All I care about, personally, is being happy about myself and the person that I've become, and I think for some people the trophies help with that. I think that if people could really just take pleasure in themselves and what they are, we'd have less people trying to constantly prove their own worth to themselves, and thus have less people who are arrogant due to their insecurity.

I'm all about compliments--especially because 99.9% of the time, I mean them. THe hardest part about giving a compliment is just having the courage to do it. It isn't always easy to just go up to someone and tell them what you think about them, even if its a favorable view. You feel awkward, or wahtever, and you think the other person will think you are weird, but I think that's not usually the case. If more people were comfortable giving compliments, it's almost unfathomable how much less conflict there would be.

I loved your statement about nice guys. I personally am a firm believer that success can't be measured by anyone but the person whose success is being considered. I know that a lot of the time, there's a lot of pressure to finish at the top, especially when people think you are capable of it. I used to really think that that was what life was about. Over time, though, certain things led me away from that, and your article only reaffirmed it.

Thanks, my mystery friend, for gracing the journal that I put so much work into with your beautiful words. I hope that you'll consider doing it again in the future.