It’s a fact of life, when you’re nice to people, they’re nice back–it’s called The Law of Reciprocity.  And, the more people you’re nice to, the more people you have out there who are looking for an opportunity to be nice to you.  For example, how many times have you heard someone say something like: “I really didn’t want to take the time to help that person, but since he or she is so nice, I couldn’t tell them no.”  This makes being nice a very selfish act because the more you give of yourself, the more you can expect to receive.  As Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval say in their excellent book, The Power of Nice, “The power of nice will help you open doors, improve your relationships at work and at home, and let you sleep a whole lot better.  Nice not only finishes first; those who use its nurturing power wind up happier, to boot!”  Yes, being nice is selfish…in a very good way.