Nice. Nice.

Nice:  Charming, delightful, friendly, kind, lovely, pleasant, sweet.  

The other day my Old City sponsor - my "This, too, shall pass" sponsor, my "Have you had your quiet time today" sponsor - threw me an early morning curve.

"What have you done nice for someone else today?" he asked.

It gave me pause.  Now there's a 3 hour time difference between us so he got me fairly early in my day.  Not that I would have done anything nice had I been given a few more hours.  I'm up and at 'em by 5:30 or 6 on most days and after some old man stretching and that goddam quiet time, I almost always either go to the pool for a swim or to a meeting before diving into other tasks.  Still . . . . 

I  know the guy who cleans the locker room at my club.  I know his name.  I know how many kids he has.  We always talk for a bit.  I think he appreciates it - a lot of people look right through him.

The women at my coffee ship know me.  "Seaweed!"  they shout when I come in.  I know their names and what they're studying in school.  I'm pretty sure they like seeing me.  They're pretty good actors if they don't.

I make it my business to know everyone at my morning meetings.  I know the regulars and I know who's new.  I make it my business to ensure that nobody stands around with their hands in their pockets when the meeting is over.  I'm the last one to leave the parking lot - if you've got something on your mind I'm happy to listen to it.  I'm pretty sure this is appreciated.  I know damn sure that I'm loved at these meetings.

I felt good going over these things in my mind.  I'm such an egotist that I forget nice is often small and unnoticed.  It doesn't have to be a big show.

I've always liked the saying: "Don't sweat the small stuff because it's all small stuff."