My mother always said I was "too nice". I never thought of it that way. It was like, I can help somebody, so I should -- no skin off my nose. But you found w

My mother always said I was "too nice". I never thought of it that way. It was like, I can help somebody, so I should -- no skin off my nose. But you found where that leads: to 'infinite' helping people, with no expected 'reward' except you having helped another. I believe this mindset is 'injected' (programmed) at a young age; maybe you are an older sibling, and had to help with the youngsters. Maybe some other family members needed you to do things. I'm only saying we are taught to behave this way, unconsciously, by circumstances of our childhoods. For this reason (the behavior partly defines who 'we' are), wanting to 'be different' means changing who we are, as a person. We have to put that part that is no longer serving us ('help others, always') to rest, and replace it with a better belief that supports us now. Because the 'programming' that results in this behavior is likely pretty solid, I agree with another response here that therapy would be worth considering. For me, I've decided it's better to get beat in some deal from time to time, if it allows me to retain the fiction that 'all people are nice to me, and I will be nice to them'. But I am often re-evaluating even this, because, heck, even Wayne Dyer mentioned it's hard to please more than half the folks - so just accept that. I applaud you for your awareness of this issue, and I would appreciate if you could post again next year on how you've dealt with this problem. Good Luck.