Be nice

I spend a lot of time in my car driving to, between and from appointments with clients.  Earlier this week I was flicking through the radio stations as I often do and ended up on Radio 4.  Now, before the people in the UK reading this suggest that Radio 4 is for old people - try it and I guarantee that you will learn something new and will be entertained.

Anyway... I heard a play called "Brian Gulliver's Travels" in which a man in a mental institution is recounting stories of his travels to strange countries that don't actually exist (or do they?!).  One country had a law for everything and subsequently half the population were lawyers.  The next country he visited had one law and that law had just two words: "Be nice".

So yesterday, I put my usually cynical self to one side and made the conscience decision to be nice about everyone and try and find the positive in everything.  Although I like to think otherwise, I don't suffer fools gladly.  When we did a psycologilcal assessment at work, one of my "strengths" was that I hated wasting time with people who didn't know what they are talking about (I am paraphrasing a little their); but it explains why I hate meetings with the aim of finding a solution, that often do the opposite. In addition, I do like a good moan - it can be fun!

During the day, I stopped myself critisising and turned it around to the positive.  When Pete was complaining about work in the morning, I worked the facts around to the positive too.  When I found dealing with my head office to be a bit of a nightmare, I decided not to moan. I also made a decision to compliment more than ever.  I have to admit that it's hard work but strangely rewarding in places!

I cant promise to continue at this nice pace, but I will give it a try.  So today, why not stop when you are complaining about something or someone and try and be nice instead?