I blame my parents. Yes, and I don’t mean that in a negative way. I know I was both taught and also shown what it meant to be nice.
That has made me question if being nice or any other trait can be learned or inherited.
Now let me be clear, I know there’s always been the debate between nature vs. nurture. It is true that both contribute to our way of being. But I think when both are combined then — BOOM! that’s what you get.
Both my parents have that trait of putting others before their own-selves. I mean that in every sense possible. They will give up their food, bed, anything someone else is in need for. I used to criticize and ridicule them so much for this.
I will never forget a daunting moment in my career. Where my supervisor had to give my performance appraisal. I was shaking and being nervous was an understatement. That was the first time in my professional career that I was getting feedback for my work.
Now, I really had nothing to fear because I knew I had done my best. But somehow I was still nervous. I had one of the best performances according to my supervisor at the time. She explained how much of a team-player I was, how compassionate, how much good feedback I got from formal clients etc.
I was very elated. But interestingly enough, as she spoke I only thought of my parents. All the words she used to described me, were no doubt characteristics of both my parents. I have so much of them, beyond the physical of course that until that moment I had not realized.
I know my parents must feel proud about all the praises. But I can only thank them for showing me to be nice.
