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I just can't get over the effect this thread has had on my life.

 

I've been carrying grudges and being purposefully rude to colleages who've made work life difficult for me in the past and who I've decided aren't 'very nice people'. Since this thread opened up and I've been thinking about kindness more, I've started making a big effort to see beyond their past actions towards me and be nice to them anyway.

 

And you know what? It feels a lot better to be nice to people even when they've been mean to you. It changes the energy of the whole day. And you start to feel compassion for the other person, thinking why were they mean to begin with, hearing what other people say about them (that yeah their mean, they're rude, they're working the system, etcetc) and wondering how sad it must be for that person to live each day in such a pool of negativity. Maybe they'll be a bit nicer if they get a bit of niceness out of their day too.

 

In the back of my mind I've got a little voice saying 'why are you being nice to people who would stab you in the back and humiliate you again if given the chance?' and I just try to stay positive in the knowledge that I would have done my best and done the right thing, so it doesn't matter what they do.

 

How do others feel about being kind to people who 'might not deserve it' or who 'might bite the hand that is nice to them'?