Ornery . . . disagreeable . . . obnoxious . . . cantankerous . . . cranky . . . grouchy. Who likes to be around people whose demeanor is characterized by these distasteful adjectives. Answer: nobody. Such attitudes bring dark clouds into what could be a sunshiny day.
Au contraire are deportments characterized by pleasantness, affability, congeniality, and friendliness. Put simply, being nice. It’s a safe bet that virtually everybody prefers nice to ornery.
Generally it’s so easy to be nice. To be sure, there are past or present circumstances that condition one’s mindset toward nastiness. Events in life, such as emotional/physical/sexual abuse, can warp the cheerfulness right out of a person. But the average Jack or Jill without such dramatic psychic injuries has a choice: amiability or nastiness.
Being nice is easy . . . and it makes life a lot more enjoyable for both the self and others. Vitiation or support; condemnation or affirmation; revenge or forgiveness; malice or kindness; negative or positive. The former miens produce gloom and woe while the latter generate gladness and tranquility.
Bolstering the spirits of others also does the same for the one doing the bolstering. A smile beats a frown any day. A pat on the back beats a smack to the face any day. A genuine hug beats an angry spit any day. The choice is there for each one of us: use words and actions that push the world toward war (one-on-one or internationally) or toward peace. Want peace? Let it begin with me.
