Nice to be Nice

We live in a world where more than ever, we are connected as friends, neighbors.
But in our real,day to day lives, more than ever, we live in a cutthroat, winner takes all world, where, really, no one is your friend.
We're not even nice in the most basic way to each other anymore.

We carefully sculpt beautiful, gleaming virtual lives on the world wide web, where, in real life, this world has become so angry.

I struggle to teach my children empathy, because the concept is so foreign.
"Why should I have to do anything for anyone else, when they're not doing anything for me?"

I'm trying to teach them that even though people are going to be mean to you, that sometimes you still need to be nice.  That we don't wait for someone to be kind first, because that may never happen.

I'm also trying to teach them that even though people might not be kind to you, or help you, that doesn't mean they're trying to hurt your feelings or take advantage of you.  They're simply trying to take care of themselves.

I'm finding this to be the most challenging thing about parenting.  Raising kids in a heavily virtual world, when in real life, self-destruction is happening all around them.
For this reason, I need them to rise even taller.
I need them to be kinder, softer, gentler than me.
I need them to understand that being nice is just that.
Being nice.

Not because you'll get something in return.
Not because you need to be better than anyone else.
Not because you're trying to accumulate some sort of mythical "point" to cash in on some other occasion.

Simply for the reason, that it's nice to be nice.

If I myself let in the bad, then my day can reflect the ugly stuff real, real quick.
Unfortunately, when I display that nasty meanness, my kids will bounce it right back to me.

It takes no damn time at all for every single person in our house to be upset.
And that sucks cojones.

It's very difficult to teach my children these difficult lessons when I myself have to fight so hard to maintain niceness.
I want to scream and shout and tell that sh*tty person that they're sh*tty.
The life lessons I struggle with most, are probably the most important for me to teach my kids.

The ones that come easy to me, will likely come easier to them.
If I can emulate good qualities, with ease, I can hope that one day, my kids will too.

It's these habits and traits that are so heavily influenced by the new ultra-connected world, that I need to work harder to instill in them.

Life is not fair.
It's so difficult to teach a tough lesson like that.
And even though life isn't fair, we need to be nice people anyways.
To everyone.
Especially the ones who are unkind to us.
Sometimes they're the ones who need it most.