Let’s all just be nice…

So, this week I’ve had several private and personal conversations with friends and I'm honoured that they've confided in me. You just never know what’s going on behind closed doors or what issues people are dealing with in their private lives and how that can affect the way they act or behave. I readily talk about things happening in my life, good or bad, to my friends (thanks friends – those who have given me your ears and support over the years – you know who you are!) and I think I can be read like a book – if I’m happy, it’s obvious, if I’m having a bad day or something’s on my mind, it’s pretty obvious. But some people don’t like to talk and share their issues and this is fine, but it does mean that sometimes people can behave in odd ways and we may not know the cause of it but may be on the receiving end of some negatively perceived behaviour because of this.

I was having a chat with a friend the other day and they said that when their dad died, they’d be walking down the road in town with all these strangers walking past and she’d think, how can I be so broken and desolate inside and all these people going about their lives around me have no idea what I’m going through? It felt really apt that we were having this conversation and it reinforced my thought that I’d write this post.

So, when that friend blanks you in the supermarket? It may not be because they don’t want to speak to you; it might be because they just found out some bad news and simply didn’t see you. That driver who didn’t thank you when you pulled into a passing place on the lane? Relax, they may have just found out their job’s on the line. That lady who didn’t hold the door open for you? She might be on her way to hospital to visit her ill husband…

Of course, there may not always be reasons for things that happen but if we can all just be nice and make allowances as much as we possibly can, then we make our worlds much calmer and happier places…