BEING A NICE PERSON: THE LOW DOWN

Saturday

Welcome to another post in my The Low Down series, where I get a bit more serious and give you the low down on things. For this one, I am just going to be sharing ways to genuinely just be a nice person which I feel like is pretty obvious, but a lot of people seem to need it?


Now, you might be bored of hearing about kindness now, especially as it has been heavily emphasised since the start of the pandemic, and a few years back we had the #BeKind movement. But have you ever stopped to think how we only have movements like that after someone has taken their own life? And afterwards, it doesn't take long for people to forget about the detrimental, and even fatal effects that nastiness has on our mental health.


be kind green tiles on pink backrgound

Related: Toxic positivity: The low down

A lot of people reading this will be thinking, being kind is so obvious, like why would you not be? But you'd be surprised by the amount of people who sadly are not. Every day, I hear about influencers and creators getting hate on a daily basis. Just look at the boys in the England team getting racial abuse for not scoring penalties, rather than getting praised for coming so far at a young age. Racism is a complete other topic and it is never OK in any situation. But it just goes to show how quickly people can turn nasty as these were supposedly England 'fans'.


Take Love Island as another example, sadly a few people have taken their own lives as a result of the hate they had received from being on the show. But this year, people are still giving them hate and tweeting awful things about them. OK, we all judge people on TV a little bit sometimes and maybe don't always agree with their decisions, but they are just ordinary humans on the TV with feelings. If you really have to say something nasty about someone on the TV or someone online, it's so easy to just send something privately to a friend rather than broadcasting it so that they can see.

Related: Friendships: the low down

These are just a few recent examples, but I'm sure if I ask you about a time someone has been nasty to you personally, you could tell me straight away. And being online, does make it easier for people to be unkind, but it's not always online.


We are all just getting through life and enough shit has gone on with things like Covid, climate change and just general other bad stuff for anyone to have to put up with people being dicks on top of that. So I am going to give you some of my own personal advice on how to just be a nice person generally, and just to live life in more of a happy way. 


I'm not saying I'm an amazingly nice person, no one is perfect and it's hard to be kind all the time - especially because there are some real arseholes out there. Most of my blog readers are lovely too! I am just using my platform for important topics.


How to be a nice person


1. Try to find happiness within yourself

The first step in this is really working on you. In my experience, most of the people who feel the need to put others down are insecure in themselves. This isn't easy and this could be a whole other blog post - but once you accept things about yourself and don't compare yourself to others, you will be much more happy for them and won't feel the need to put them down anymore.


2. Keep your mouth shut

As humans, it's natural to think things about people that sometimes aren't the nicest but do they need to hear these thoughts? Probably not. Again, it's all about accepting differences. 


3. Compliment people

Kindness is something that becomes habitual and once you start practising it more, it will come more easily and naturally. Try and compliment people and say positive things to them, this could make them feel so much better and will also make you feel better about yourself too.


4. Surround yourself with positivity

In this blog post, I'm not saying go out of your way to make friends with people who aren't your usual type of person. To become a happier and kinder person, it will actually be a lot better for you to cut toxic and negative people out of your life. Toxic people make other people toxic, so try to surround yourself with kind people and people who make you feel good about yourself. 


5. Do's and don'ts


Do 

  • Work on your happiness
  • Compliment people and promote kindness
  • Spend your time with nice people
Don't 

  • Put others down to make yourself feel better
  • Be rude and say nasty things

Sorry about the moody blog post - I am just so fed up of seeing nastiness everywhere I turn at the moment. I try to keep myself away from it as much as possible now that I am not forced to spend my time with unkind people at uni or anything but it still seems to be a little bit everywhere online etc.


And I feel like it's never going to go away but that's why we all have to try and work together in looking after our own mental health and the mental health of others. Also, sorry this post was a bit of a brain dump.


What are your thoughts on this? Let's start a discussion.

9 comments

  1. Love this, so great of you to write this! The #BeKind is amazing, but I think some people think if they post it, then they are being kind? Not sure if that makes sense x

    Caroline | https://envirolineblog.com/

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    1. Yes! It’s all very well saying #BeKind but then sometimes you catch these same people being unkind? It’s the actions that count more. Thanks Caroline x

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  2. All of this! Saying #BeKind means nothing when someone only says it when it suits them. People seem to be so caught up in making others feel bad; it's so upsetting to see. Recently discovered your blog and I'm looking forward to reading more! :-)

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  3. Such a beautiful post. It might seem easy but believe me, there are so many people who could benefit from reading this. If nothing else it might educate them on why they aren't nice people and how they can make simple changes in order to become more approachable.

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  4. Love how well organized these thoughts are. I think sometimes nasty people really think they are being helpful but they can't or won't take the time to deliver criticism in a way that is helpful and respectful at the same time.

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  5. Fab post! It's so easy to post about being kind without actually thinking about what that entails.

    Tash - A Girl with a View

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  6. What a brilliant post!

    I completely agree that kindness towards other will only come once you’re truly happy with yourself and your own life.

    As an adult I have lost a few friends o we stupid things but it always boils down to their own unhappiness projected. It sucks but I have to say my happiness has increased without their negativity.

    Now I can channel that happiness in to the others around me x

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  7. YES to all of this! I've in the past either being too nice or not always nice enough, but I'm trying now to find balance and be a decent human in every facet of life. It's literally my one goal, to add value to those I encounter and to be a source of kindness is people's lives.

    Thank you for sharing lovely.

    Kate | kindlyk.co.uk x

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  8. I absolutely love this post! Kindness has the power to change the world. It is such a simple thing, but so many still struggle with it. If we could all be just a little kinder, the impact would be inspiring! Hopefully your post will help spread a little more kindness. Thanks for sharing!

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