Attributes of Nice people

I recently heard a colleague, @Stuart Draper, read a quote that really hit home.

“It’s nice to be important. But it’s more important to be nice.”

I was recently given a gift that I cherish very much. My mother-in-law made me a blanket out of t-shirts that I have collected over the years. These shirts include memories from winning the soccer state championship, coaching soccer teams, being student body president and other great memories that I cherish. All of these shirts represent trials, accomplishments, great memories and incredible individuals that I can now call friends.

As I sat there looking at this blanket, I thought of this:

“How many times have I thought of how nice it was to be important rather than the importance of being nice?”

Sadly, being nice doesn’t always come naturally to me. This is something I want to improve on. As I have thought and watched “nice” people, I often see three qualities.

Gratitude.
Nice people are always so grateful. I had a neighbor once in Bethlehem, PA. named Nicholai. He was probably about 80 years of age and his English was very hard to understand. One day he knocked on our door and asked if we could help him move a piece of furniture. We agreed. We walked downstairs to his humble home. There wasn’t much. He had a simple life-style. The job took about 2 minutes to complete, he expressed great sense of gratitude and we departed.

The next day, this old man knocked on our door and he had 4-5 bags full of groceries. Orange juice, steaks, fruits, cheese, bread, milk, etc. It was incredible. I could not believe my eyes. I tried to refuse but he wasn’t having it. All he kept saying was “No, it’s yours! Thank you. Thank you!”

His act of kindness marked my life. He really was grateful for our simple act. In the following months, every week, there would be a bag of fruits, or goodies in our doorstep from Nicholai.  

Humility
As an LDS missionary, I had the chance to knock doors all over the city of Philadelphia to share our message with anyone who wanted to hear it. A very usual result was rejection. We would then hand out a card for a free movie of Jesus Christ and move on.

One cold winter afternoon, we were knocking doors in North Philadelphia and no one was letting us in to share the message. It really was an awful day. As we were knocking without any success, we heard someone trying to call us. As we look around, we saw an old lady across the street waving at us, and invited us to come in. Without hesitation, and hoping for warmth, we sprinted across the street. To my disappointment, the house was just as cold as outside. This lady was from Ukraine and her living circumstances were poor. We tried to share a message with her but she knew very little english. I actually don’t think she understood much. After realizing that we couldn’t understand each other, we asked her if it was ok to leave her with a prayer. This she understood and agreed to. When the prayer concluded, she said “wait right here” and she got up and walked away.

After 1-2 minutes of wondering what she was doing, she came back, and presented us with a gift. It was one of those huge Hershey chocolate bars. I didn’t know what to say. I was shocked. I couldn’t understand what she was saying and neither could she understand us. I know this lady was so poor and yet she’s giving us a huge chocolate bar.

There are thousands of examples of humility, but his one changed my life. She didn't have much and she shared the little she had with us. 

Love.
The two examples I shared are full of Love. Nice people just love others. They really do. They have the best interest for others at heart. I don’t want to bore you with another story of mine, but think about the “nice” people you have met in your life. Without a doubt, I know that all of them have some level of love for others. There are a lot of changes in the world today and love is key to help us move forward.

Another of my favorite quote reads:

“When the power of love is greater than the love of power, then the world will know peace”

Being nice to someone may not change the world, but to that person, it may mean the world.

Be nice.