It's New Years' Eve and I can't find anyone to be nice to. No one is around. Even the homeless people I want to give my recycling to are not hanging out at their usual spot by the dumpsters in back of the corner liquor store. Mr. Foxypants and I will be ringing in the New Year by watching a marathon of MAD MEN episodes and eating Chinese take-out like the crabby shut-ins we are.
Okay. I admit it. I'm too lazy to find someone to be nice to today. I just want spend all day in relaxed contemplation.
Oh, why is it that I cannot talk about self-reflection without sounding like a self-involved twit?
*sigh*
I am a failure. As far as my 2008 pledge to be nice every day...well, I didn't do it. Finding 365 new and inventive ways of being nice for no good reason is much harder than I ever anticipated. That, and I'm a crappy memoirist, so even when I was nice, there were many days that I just didn't get around to writing stuff down.
But even though my resolve was shoddy, and my follow-though haphazard, being consciously and actively nice had many unintended positive consequences:
1. Not only did I pay down my debt, but unlike everyone else I know, I can actually say that I am better off financially than I was last year.
2. My charity allowed me to downsize my material possessions by a whopping 85% without feeling a sense of deprivation or guilt. In fact, I found the entire process liberating. Less things = less things to dust. Duh. Simplifying my life by getting rid of my stuff has brought me a level of mental peace I've not had in years.
3. Being nice has brought me new friends and strengthened my relationship with the friends I already had. There are many ways to be rich that don't involve money!
So, the experiment was a success?
Happy New Year!
2 comments:
Now that the year of being officially nice is over, will you start being the stark, raving mean person you were meant to be?
You can start back-stabbing, back-talking and all the good back-this-n-that-ing available.
Maybe you can watch a few episodes of "Entourage" and study the Ari Gold character for pointers.
If you're still having trouble, I can give you the names of a few girls I went to high school with for tips.
Good luck in 2009. A night in with "Mad Men" and Chinese food sounds like the pinnacle of perfection.
Katy
Interesting place here. I have a girlfriend who writes in that hell-hole you describe ;) I'm always amazed at "the business" and glad I live in the middle o'nothing.
Stopped by from the nonconsumeradvocate. Good person there. Oh, and no need to post this, just saying hello!
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