So I’m on Day 18 and terribly bored with myself and quite uncomfortable with talking about myself being nice. The way I’m doing this currently is defeating my purpose because I feel like there’s too much focus on me (because I’m just self-centered that way) and/or (depending on my mood) the stuff I’m listing isn’t particularly nice so much as simply decent.

I stopped listing on FB or Twitter than I’m doing this because that just compounds the problem of feeling like I’m making this too much about me.

Don’t get me wrong, I AM most definitely doing this for ME. I’m fighting the cynicism that has eaten away at my life the last few years. But the way I’m doing it is making me feel more like it’s about me than the niceness, which might be cynical, but I can’t tell.

So I’m revamping my little experiment in four ways:

1) I’m going to list anything and everything I can think of that I did out of niceness, rather than just one thing. Keep in mind I am not the nicest person in the world, so what feels nice to me may not to anyone else. It’s not about what I do, it’s about the intention I’m bringing to my actions. I’m looking for opportunities to be nice. Most days I get quite a few.

2) Sometimes I see the opportunity for niceness, but I don’t act. I think I’d like to list those too. Because maybe I’ll see a pattern there.

3) I want to list all the little acts of niceness I see each day. Nicenesses done for me or that I see out in the world (on those days I am actually out in it) or even what I see on TV news or on the Web.

4) I want to encourage people to share their nicenesses with me. Nicenesses done to you, for you or just that you see. I think getting to peek into other people’s niceness will help me in my fight against cynicism — and give me more ideas!

So I hope people will feel like joining me in my journey into niceness. Maybe we can all feel a little less cynical, even if it’s just for a few minutes each day. Hey, it’s a start!

January 18: Shared my sandwich. I love LOVE love Port of Subs. Sometimes I jones for a #3 on wheat like nothing else in the world. Today was one of those days. But the problem with Port of Subs is that the small is too small and the medium is too big — if I have chips. And it’s not like I’m going to skip the chips because the crunch of the chips is the perfect complement to the softness of the bread,the firmness of the lettuce and the slick of the salami. So today I bought my medium #3, came home, took one bite and realized I could have all my sandwich with no chips or half with chips and thus waste half of the wonder that is a #3 on wheat (because once the lettuce wilts, the magic is gone).That waste always kills me. It’s like not finishing a candy bar or getting Basil Haydens with rocks instead of straight. But Lynn was here and it occurred to me she might love the #3 on wheat as much as I do and that if I shared with her I could eat my chips without waste!

January 17:  I let the cat sleep on my lap while I was typing, even though he caused typos and wouldn’t stop drooling.

January 16: Mmmmmm! Kisses. Lots and lots of kisses.

We were at a photo shoot for a local magazine (Family Pulse) hat wants to put Jason and I on the cover and then Jason, Joe and I on the interior. I suggested the playground because that was where Jason and I had our first kiss and it might be more fun than just two lovers sitting on a park bench looking into one another;s eyes.

Now, Jason and I have been married going on 24 years, and we’re both pretty happy about being together. We’ve even be friends for more than 3 decades.

We’re a happy couple, but there’s not a lot of kissing in our everyday life. Lots of other stuff, but not random kissing. So when the photographer had me hanging upside down on the  monkey bars and kissing my husband, it was fun. At first I worried my belly tattoo was showing (it was). Or my face was turning red (it was) or my hair was funky (it was).  But after a few seconds I was able to let it all go and just enjoy aiming for his lips. The simple act of kissing reminded me how much I like kissing him. Hell, it reminded me how much I like him. So we took many more shots than we needed, and I thoroughly enjoyed kissing this man I’ve known for most of my life.

That was a pretty nice day.

January 15: Since I actually left my house today I had several opportunities for niceness. So I donated a couple of bucks on top of my grocery bill to help feed others. I gave up the close parking spot and took the farther one. I let a car out in front of me even though I was in a hurry. And I let two cousins spend the night even though I had only planned for one and didn’t really feel up to any. Lots of little things that simply made it easier to breathe today.