Waybread,
I like your writing here, enriching, good advise, enlightening except I have to comment on this one in my case: "Don't pretend to be a "Who, me?" nicey-nice kind of person. " I am a Libra rising, is my identity. I truly want to be nice and kind to people, I don't want people get hurt in any way and therefore the niceness is not pretends, is genuinely nice, kind and being considerate to other people's feeling, putting myself in other's people shoe and seeing the consequences how things will turn out if one puts no restraint on ones' tongue. I don't know about other people but this me libra rising, I don't want anyone gets their feeling hurt because I know how it feels. When I must tell the truth and yet I know how sensitive the other person is, predicting they would run away from facing the ugly truth then I will put in some effort to contemplate saying it in a kind way that is easier to swallow down. I will only put in these effort if the person is close to me. If not, I will just shut up, listen to the end and then finally next topic. Debating is time wasting when I know the other person is stubborn etc. But anyway, I am changing, changing as in telling the truth of what I think, what I should say to the person face to face right off instead of just letting it slide, but still with a blend of niceness at all times, lol.