“Being nice is a good thing.” – Captain Obvious

Everyone can agree that kindness and compassion are good traits to possess. But you can’t forget that too much of a good thing is not such a good thing sometimes, and that includes being nice. So check yourself before you wreck yourself…with too much amiability.

People who are too nice tend to be selfless, giving individuals. Which is wonderful. However, if those qualities are not displayed moderation, the selfless giver gets hurt. Every once in awhile, you need to think about yourself. You can’t let your hopes and dreams get pushed to the back-burner because you are too busy helping others. You’re a nice person, remember? You deserve a little T.L.C.

Nice people also tend to get walked all over. And if that doesn’t hurt, I don’t know what does. You can stand firm in your beliefs, say no to things you don’t like and hold an opinion while still being a nice person. Don’t let others push you around. You don’t need that in your life. And there’s nothing wrong with fighting back sometimes. I mean, even in Miss Congeniality, the title character was master of self-defense. In the film, Sandra Bullock’s FBI agent-turned-beauty pageant contestant character, Gracie, made everybody aware of that in the talent portion of the Miss United States competition, and she was still considered the nicest, sweetest, coolest girl at the pageant.

If you’re too nice to the mean people, the mean people will always win. Yes, you should do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Yes, you should be the bigger person. But people will take advantage of you if you’re not careful. The lazybones at work will ask you to take his shift again, and you’ll wear yourself thin saying yes every time. You’ll get stuck doing all the work in every group project. You’ll take the fall without a word when some jerk blames your for his mistake. And you won’t be happy. You’ll be hurting.

If you’re a people-pleaser, remember this: you’re a person, too. So be careful about layering on the sugar, spice and everything nice too heavily. You might be the one bellyaching in the end.