The price of niceness

Embracing change without becoming jaded

“You gotta be nice for what…?” — Drake

In a world that often rewards conformity over individuality and self preservation, being “nice” can come with a hidden cost both in our personal and professional life. For many of us, embracing kindness and empathy, as our standard way of being, is a double-edged sword. It can, as my favourite Detective Monk (TV Show Monk) would say — it’s a gift and a curse, leading to burnout. In this post, I want to talk about my own experience and explore what it means to pay the “price of niceness” and offer some insights on how to change and grow, without succumbing to cynicism or jadedness.

I am the proverbial “nice person” as many of friends will tell you. In fact, my name connotes “sweet girl” and often it is often further sweetened in my native tongue with the addition of an “i” or “o” by my members of family; my sibblings, now adults still call me Kemi or Kemo, as does my dad, and other wider family members.

You can even say — its my brand.

I am also that random traveller whom single traveling parents ask to watch their children — as if I have some sort of magic sky power that only they can see. This has happened far too many times, leading me to conclude that I must project honest vibes. An ex-boyfriend…