When Self-worth Depends on Being Poor

And nice but not too nice

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Some say it doesn’t always pay to be nice to get where you want. But I don’t want to be the next Donald Trump.

I’ve got other plans.

Summer had begun and I was alone at the beach. Alone didn’t bother me, it wasn’t the first time. It bothered me that I no longer enjoyed the beach.

I was in Athens, Greece, sitting on the sand after having left my toxic boyfriend of six years and was trying to decide my next move.

I watched a ship take away happy people to their holiday breaks because they had something to take a break from; their jobs, their in-laws, their parents, their houses…and stability.

I didn’t have any of those. I needed to catch a break, not take one.

Before I left my ex, I tried to start a career in real estate. I did the training and attended weekly meetings at a family-owned real estate agency. After the breakup, my heart was no longer in it.

I wouldn’t be happy in a pantsuit showing houses to families, then coming home to a tiny room, with the washing machine, bed, and dining table in one.

The world wasn’t made for singles, especially not Greece in the summertime.