Do you feel the same way about the word “nice”?

My English teachers at school taught me to seek alternatives to the endless use of nice to describe everything. I’m so grateful to those forward-thinking women who taught me, by the use of word choices, that life can be a range of other adjectives and that settling for mediocrity does NOT cut the mustard.

I love a life of excellence, of beauty, of elegance, of joy, of achievement, of results, of success-oriented strategy, of empathetic gesture, of philanthropy, of empowerment, of initiative, of honesty, of going the extra mile, persistence, perseverence, goodness against the odds.

I love to win the races set before me. I love to lift others up. I love to laugh, to sing, to dance. I love to shine and to see the light in other people’s eyes. I love to help another to seek their own healing, to find their own bright, shining stars. I love to share out of my bread basket, knowing that it will never ever run out of what I need. I love to raise the bar. I love to push the limits of what I have been able to do before. I love to discover, in hindsight even, that I have acted with courage. And, when another has said to me, at any time on the journey “You have helped me to find the strength I needed to go on”, I count myself an honoured servant of my fellow man or woman or child, and I know in my heart that I am on the right path … Even when it is tough.

Tough is good, if it grows us. Tough sifts the wheat from the chaff. Tough is how we have to love sometimes. Tough means saying “No” to those who overstep even the boundaries of common sense. Tough means walking away from incredible opportunities, when you know that it is not the time to follow them. Tough means picking yourself back up again, even when you’re tasting dust.

Don’t ever, please, wish me a “nice” day.

Instead, wish me all the things that I love; I do the same for you. It is senseless to do otherwise, and life is far too short to live it below par.

Rise up!

Get rid of that insipid little word that keeps people stuck in stupid mindsets … NICE has got to go. It is ruining otherwise potentially splendidly accomplished lives!

❤️

Holly x

Note:  This post first appeared on Instagram on Tuesday 17 July 2018.
It can be found here.