Kindness: Make it Part of Your Legacy!

Perhaps the only legacy worth having is to have been known as a kind and compassionate person.

-Unknown

What exactly is kindness? A quick google search gives a simple definition; the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate. While that is true, kindness is a lot more than that. Kindness is Everything provides the perfect definition: Kindness is the sincere and voluntary use of one’s time, talent, and resources to better the lives of others, one’s own life, and the world through genuine acts of love, compassion, generosity, and service.

Kindness is one of the most beautiful and powerful forces for good that exists in the entire world.

While kindness is something we hear of often, I wonder if we truly are actively choosing to be kind? Do we intentionally live our lives with kindness for ourselves and others? Perhaps we can look within ourselves and commit to making kindness part of the legacy we leave behind.

Reflection Time

One of my favorite pastimes is watching movies with my family, more specifically, watching movies that are inspirational and uplifting. They make us laugh, they make us cry (most often just me), and often impact our thinking. Such movies motivate and inspire us to look deep within.

A movie I recently watched called “Greater”, did just that. It inspired me! It’s a movie based on the true story of Brandon Bulsworth. I won’t ruin the movie for you in case you want to watch it, but I would like to share a part of the movie that made me dig a little deeper.

A character in the movie (which I believe is a representation of the demons we battle with in life) shared this -> “…Nobody’s gonna remember anything that we did. Cruel or kind. In the great scheme of things if you shake my hand or spit in my eye, what difference does it really make?”

That part of the movie stuck with me, it made me stop and think. Sure, it might sound silly especially since it came from a movie but I asked myself: How true was this? Did it really not matter if we chose kindness over rudeness? Was our existence so insignificant? Did our life truly not make a difference? Our actions – did they matter?

It Matters!

Every action we take, every word we speak, everything we do matters. We have a choice on how we live, how we carry ourselves, and how we make others feel. This world might try to convince us that what we do does not matter. It will trick us into believing that our presence is so insignificant but what a big lie that is. We have a duty to live our lives with faith, trust, and kindness because yes, it matters!

That smile, that word of encouragement, that text or call. That person who held the door for you, the one who paid for your coffee, the friend or the stranger who prayed for you. All those different acts matter. They all make an impact in your life and in the life of others.

Choosing kindness over and over is how we make a difference. We will never be remembered by our degrees, our possessions, or our looks but rather by how we actively chose to treat others time and time again. This creates a chain of kindness that slowly changes the world and that is part of creating a legacy.

What Will You Leave Behind?

Kindness is purposefully doing our best to be our best and actively helping others be their best, too.

https://www.kindnessiseverything.com/

Let’s ask ourselves this: How will others remember me? What will I leave behind? What will be my legacy?

I encourage you to make sure kindness is a part of the legacy you leave behind. To always choose kindness, to be better, and make others better.

Remember: Kindness is one of the most beautiful and powerful forces for good that exists in the entire world.

Betzy Valdez

Betzy Valdez originally from Pachuca, Hidalgo, Mexico, came to the United States with her family 22 years ago, chasing the well-known “American Dream”. Greeley, Colorado is where her and her family have resided over the past 22 years and it’s a place, she calls home. She has been married for 11 years to her supportive husband Javi and together they have three beautiful little girls and an American Bully named Bella. She is also the founder of B. Empowered, a space created to encourage others to be the change, to be empowered to be the world-changers, the difference-makers, the heart-changers. Through Betzy’s own journey, she continues to be brave by sharing her story, her truths, her mess. Instead of allowing setbacks in her life to hold her back, she is determined to use her mess as her message of hope, strength and belonging. Her calling in life in to encourage and empower others in their own journey, regardless of color, race, religion, or legal status. She believes we must all have a vision, not division. Betzy plans to continue her journey as an empowerment and motivational speaker as well as an active community volunteer, leader and advocate for immigrant and refugee rights. She is extremely excited for this new opportunity and hopes to connect with others.

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