My new motto

Thanks to Laurie, I've hopped on board to a new motto....Her friend posted on her blog about a theme/legacy...Laurie posted on her legacy, but I couldn't access her friends blog that started it all (darn private blogs). Anyway, I emailed Laurie to ask what her friend said and she emailed me back what was on the friends blog. I'm so glad I did...it is a quote that really resonates a lot of what I believe in. We had a Family Home Evening last night, pretty much explaining what Jill (Lauries friend) said on her blog. I actually am having this quote made out of vinyl lettering and am going to put it on a board in our home. My kids are already saying the second half of it, when I say the first. I really don't like unkindness to each other or to others...and haughtiness counts in this. It is a bit of a difficult phrase to understand as a 5 and 7 year old, but I tried to break it down (they don't quite get vanity yet).
This is what Laurie emailed me from Jill's blog that ended up being or FHE lesson:


"It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice!" After thinking about all the possible phrases I want my children to remember from me, this is one saying that keeps coming to mind. I think it encompasses a lot of important lessons.
Humility. Although it is great to accomplish a lot of wonderful things, it is so important to be humble and not get caught up in ourselves.
Gratitude. Success may come our way, and that is great, but we always need to remember the people who helped us get there, and give others credit for helping and teaching us along the way. Generosity. If we achieve recognition, popularity, intellect, fame, fortune, whatever, we should "share the wealth" with others. What good is it, if we hoard it all to ourselves?
Kindness. Christ was kind to everyone, all the time, and we should be too.
Thoughtfulness. Rather than always thinking about ourselves, we should think about others and how we can reach out to them. Somehow that solves the problem of thinking we need to think about ourselves! :)
Perspective. You might be good at something and I might be good at something else, and it's ok, to not be good at everything! Everyone has different strengths and there is no need to compare or judge or criticize. But there is a need to encourage and celebrate our strengths together.

See my post below if you want to see what my friends said, or if you want to add your legacy. I'm planning to do a FHE lesson with my kids on each of them, so I'd love to hear more.