This is such a good article. As I was reading it I was thinking “instead of nice, we should strive to be kind” and then I got towards the end and you said it!! Perfect.

As someone who was emotionally abused by my mother, I was raised to be “nice”, to repress my true feelings, to be a people-pleaser and perfectionist. While I’ve now broken free and am striving to become my true self, there are times (such as at work or even in my relationship) where I have moments of insecurity, wondering if I’ve fucked up, if me telling my truth is “too much” and will make them not like me. When apparently I am 99.9% of the time being completely fine.