Legacy

A legacy isn't just something you leave behind you when you die. It's something you are creating the whole time you are alive. How you live your life, what you do, what you don't do, what you give freely to others, what you keep for yourself, the truths & lies you tell.... The actions & beliefs of each of us matter.

We tend to think of legacy in terms of money & property. How much we have amassed, what we own. The status we have. But we can't take any of that with us on our final journey. So we have this notion of inherited wealth. We pass it on to our friends & family. The hope of a legacy can tie people to us in hope of benefit. (Much better if they actually like us for who we are.)  But wealth can also be a "poisoned chalice" because money & property changes people.

At 77 I think about how long I might have left. I think about what I have done with my life & what I could have done. As I've aged I have become more introspective. I think we all know, deep down, our own strengths & failings. Hopefully we learn to be better people as we go through life.

We don't get to go to our own funeral & hear the Eulogy. I'd really like to know what the people who have known me think of me. But then Eulogies can be works of fiction. People don't like to "speak ill of the dead". Many people find being really honest with friends & family about their strengths & weaknesses difficult. We try not to hurt peoples feelings. 

If we all thought more about our individual impact on those around us & the world we live in, perhaps the world wouldn't be in the mess that it is now.

"We all die. The goal is not to live for ever. The goal is to create something that will" - Palhaniuk