No matter what I do in life, I always try to come across as genuine as possible. I always go out into the world with a genuine smile and positive attitude. If there’s one thing I’ve noticed, especially from working in retail, it’s that people are, more often than not, really rude to each other. This is something that I’ve never quite understood. One could argue that being nice and pleasant to be around just comes naturally to me, but I honestly don’t feel like it’s that hard to at least act decent towards others.

While it definitely takes less effort to be rude than to be nice, it’s not like being nice is any type of hard work. Just to clarify, I’m not saying that people should go overboard with being nice. You don’t have to be a super cheerful and energetic ray of sunshine all day, just wear a friendly smile and use a welcoming tone with people. Practicing these things can go a long way towards putting other people in a good mood. I often get compliments that I improved someone’s day just by being friendly, and that is a really good feeling to have.

Another thing that I will say about being friendly is that you should not force it. If you’re not in the mood to be all smiles, then don’t try to be. Most people can see right through someone who isn’t being genuine, and they usually do not like this. Everybody has bad days, days where they’d much rather be at home than helping someone bag their groceries. But being in a bad mood does not give anybody the right to be rude. If you’re not having the greatest day, but are forced to be in a place where you have to interact with people, just try to at least be pleasant to be around. Again, you don’t have to go overboard with a positive attitude, I would just recommend that you don’t do anything that would negatively impact someone else’s day.

For someone who is almost always in a great mood, it may sound like I’m preaching from a high horse when I’m telling someone to try and be nice. But I’m only saying all of this because I’ve had plenty of experience dealing with people that weren’t exactly in the best of moods, and I’ve seen how their attitude impacted those around them. At the end of the day, I feel like the world would be at least a marginally better place if we all tried to be nicer to each other. It’s a much better feeling to be around someone that puts out a really positive energy, than the curmudgeonly person with the almost permanent scowl.