My dear friend Prossy has changed my life in the short time I have known her. She truly lives out the phrase kindness starts with you and is changing the world every day with her fresh perspective and joy for life! I asked her a little about what she believes kindness is and how her story has made her into the woman she is today.
Background
Prossy is 23 years old and she is originally from Jinja, Uganda. She was adopted into her family in 2008 at the age of 12 and is one of 15 siblings in that family. She came to the U.S. to attend Belmont University for the first time in the fall of 2018. I had the pleasure of meeting her during orientation and we have been friends ever since!
Upon entering Belmont University she was undeclared. When the search for a major began, one of her mentors said to her “you can do anything and be anything you want” and this inspired her. She ended up landing on sociology because it answers the question, why do people do what they do? She wants to better understand people as then you can better serve them, be there for them and help fulfill their needs. Her minor is religion and the arts with a photography emphasis. She wants to further explore and answer questions about God as well as capture pieces of beauty in the world to look back on through photography. Jesus came to serve people and tell them truth and Prossy believes this is how she wants to model her life.
What motivates you to be kind?
I asked her what prompts her to be kind to others. She explained that it isn’t always about having had kindness shown to you. Sometimes being shown kindness can spoil you because it becomes common that people are kind. When you experience a lack of kindness, it shapes you to be more kind to others because you know what it feels like to be treated unkindly. We all come from different backgrounds and have different stories. Prossy explained, “It can be really hard to truly know people and be kind to them because that means you have to accept all of their brokenness. Sometimes it’s easier to reject someone’s brokenness which stops you from being kind because you can’t accept their story.” Kindness takes effort and thats why it makes such a difference when someone chooses to live a kind life.
She believes kindness is a fountain of human connectedness that sees people beyond their looks. It is less focused on what people can give to us and more focused on what we can give to them. She explained she has never had a specific picture to associate with kindness. But if she could describe it, it would be a picture of empathy where a person gives of themselves for another. Similar to movie where someone runs into a house on fire to save a child stuck inside. It simply looks like someone treating others the way they want to be treated. Jesus’ story plays that example out so well. Just the willingness to say I will go the extra mile for you, or I will do that for you so that you don’t have to. It usually is in the circumstance of fulfilling a need someone can’t fulfill themselves. Prossy believes, “even just seeing human beings as amazing, important and beautiful pieces of creation is a kind thing!”
To learn more about Prossy and her story, I have provided her Instagram and Facebook accounts for you to connect with her!
Sounds like a wonderful young woman.