During the 1999 mudslides in Vargas State, I had the opportunity to meet a young woman from a relatively well-off area who had survived the tragedy. She had been flown out of the danger zone by helicopter and arrived at the aid center covered in mud. Once there, she told me her story. She was alive thanks to her past self. Intrigued, I asked what she meant. She told me that although her family was financially secure and lived very well, her parents had always taught her to treat everyone equally, with the same respect, courtesy, and compassion. They tried to help everyone they could. There was a young man from a very disadvantaged area who came to their house once a week asking for food. They helped him, but always made sure he understood that what we receive without effort is not valued. So they would give him a task around the house that he could complete quickly and feel satisfied and proud of having done. That was how a lovely friendship began.
On the tragic night of December 15, after three days of uninterrupted rain, Gerardo—the young man in question, who by then had a well-established friendship with the family—saw from a distance how the mountainside was giving way and what that could mean for the family who had always helped him. Without hesitation, Gerardo left his house, risking his life. His mission was to warn them that they were in imminent danger and had only seconds to decide whether they wanted to get out alive. They listened to Gerardo, left the house, and ran to higher ground. A couple of minutes later, their home, the result of so many years of work, disappeared beneath the mud. Had it not been for Gerardo, they would have disappeared too, and this story would not exist.
Gerardo’s friend is living proof of someone who prepared the way for her future self.
But how do I prepare the way for my future self? By storing up kindness. Everything you do today is going into your future self’s savings account of kindness. Everything you do today will come back to you sooner or later in the future. You decide what to store up. Do you perform selfless acts of kindness? Your future self will enjoy them. Do you help others? Your future self will be helped. Do you listen? You will be heard. We are what we create; we are what we leave in others. Prepare today for your tomorrow self. That self will thank you.
“The greatest charm lay not in the present, but in anticipating the outcome.”
Julio Cortázar