Losing Gold
Learning from Kindness Legends, like Betty White. She was a kindness advocate, and we all can learn from her long life of spreading happiness.
When the Golden Girls premiered in 1985, I was still in high school. I had heard about the program and maybe even tried to watch an episode or two. But it didn’t resonate. Why did I care about four older women living in Florida? I didn’t become a fan.
I knew about Betty White. My reference point was from the Mary Tyler Moore show. I had also seen her in more recent times in commercials, interviews, and of course on SNL.
Transform Through Kindness
Like the rest of the world, I was saddened to hear that she had passed away on December 31 st just shy of her 100th birthday today, January 17th.
In the two weeks since, I’ve gobbled up the documentaries about her life. Something about that twinkle in her eve in all the interviews and stories made me hang on to her words. I even learned she’d done an ad campaign for AARP, the message: Get over your age. I was lucky enough to address members and staff of AARP last month in a program called, The World We Want: Transformation through Kindness.
During the past two weeks, I have even begun watching the Golden Girls again and now that I am a woman of a certain age, you know what? It resonates a whole lot more! Love it.
Guess it’s all perspective. Learning from kindness legends that only come once in a lifetime.
On kindness, White’s advice, “I think maybe I learned from my animal friends. Kindness and consideration of somebody besides yourself. I think that keeps you feeling young. I really do.”
Happy Birthday, Betty! Your wisdom is ageless.
Betty is a great example of how leaders who amplify kindness attract a culture of kindness around them. Join the conversation with us on LinkedIn. I’d love to hear your thoughts on how we can learn from kindness legends like Betty.
