All of my life I have assumed that everyone that I come in contact with is nice and friendly, but we all know what “assuming” does…

I expect someone to smile back at me when I smile at them. To me, that is a general nice gesture whether you know the person or not.

I expect someone to hold the door for me, because I am someone that will stand there for five minutes holding the door, waiting for that family of 50 to come inside.

I expect someone to tell me thank you when I perform an act of kindness. Not at all because I want to be praised for doing something nice, but because that is a simple nice thing to do in return.

It honestly brings me so much joy to help someone out, and I love to do nice things for others. So, it amazes me when I come across people who do not think that same way as I do.

I have finally learned that you cannot trust just anybody and everybody.

For some reason, I think that everyone is just like me, and they won’t talk bad about others or that they know how to keep secrets. I have always been so eager to get to know new people in my life, and I immediately trust them, and feel comfortable enough to share anything with them.

Recently, I noticed that all of the people in the world aren’t what I have always perceived them all to be. Growing up, I just wanted so badly for everyone to be good people, and always happy and helpful. I became blind to the fact that it really isn’t that way at all, no matter how bad I wish that it was.

Sometimes one of the best ways to keep you safe from physical and emotional harm is to learn that you can’t trust just anybody.

I will always continue to do nice things for others such as picking up their books when they fall, throwing their trash away and holding the door for them because I just believe in being nice no matter what.

But don’t expect everyone else to be as nice as you.

Maybe you being nice will rub off on someone else, or maybe your act of kindness will help someone make it through a bad time in their life, or a bad day.

Not everyone will be just like you, but always stay true to your values in life no matter what everyone else around you is doing.