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I love writing my blog to inspire and help people but sometimes I come across something really profound which isn’t inspirational but really makes you think.
This is the case today where recently I came across this article in Word for Today which talks about the impact your life will have on others in the future.
What Will Your Legacy Be?
Leadership expert Dr John Maxwell writes: ‘On December 18, 1998, I had a serious heart attack. That night as I lay on the floor waiting for an ambulance, I remember thinking two things: First, I was too young to die. Second, I had not completed some of the things I wanted to accomplish…
One of the most beneficial outcomes of my heart attack experience was that it motivated me to ask myself, “What will my legacy be?” A legacy is something we leave behind to the next generation.
It can be possessions that we place in the hands of others. It can be principles we lived that carry on beyond our lives. It also can be people we have influenced whose lives are better as a result of knowing us.’
Always try to keep these two things in mind:
1) Today is all you’ve got. Remember the words on a gravestone that read: ‘I expected this, but not just yet!’ We all hope for a long life, but none of us knows if we’ll see tomorrow.
2) You will leave a legacy. A good man or woman can leave a legacy that blesses the next two generations. So focus on being good and doing good, and ask yourself regularly, ‘How do I want to be remembered by my loved ones? When my time here runs out, will I continue to influence others for good?
What would you like your legacy to be?
In Walden, Henry David Thoreau voiced his concern that when it came time to die, he would discover he had never fully lived. When it comes to your legacy, here are two things you need to keep in mind:
1) Nobody will care about the legacy you leave as much as you do. So, be intentional when you decide on your legacy; that way, you greatly increase the odds of making an impact on the next generation.
2) The sum of how you live your life each day becomes your legacy. Tally each action over many years, and you can see your legacy begin to take shape. In Inspiration and Ideals.
Your life is like a book
Grenville Kleiser writes: ‘Your life is like a book. The title page is your name. The preface is your introduction to the world. The pages are a daily chronicle of your efforts, trials, pleasures, discouragements, ambitions, and achievements.
Day by day your thoughts and acts are being inscribed as evidence of your success or failure. Hour by hour the record is being made which must stand for all time.
One day the word “Finis” must be written. Let it then be said of your book that it is a record of noble purpose, generous service, and work well done.’ Most of us don’t get to choose when or how we’re going to die, but we all get to decide how we’re going to live. And that’s the legacy we leave to those who follow us.
Stepping Stones
Inventor Charles F. Kettering once said, ‘The greatest thing this generation can do is lay a few stepping stones for the next generation.’
Short term, when people recall your name, they may talk with admiration about what you accomplished and acquired for yourself. Long term, what they’ll remember most is what you did for others.
If you want to be a blessing to others,
1) you must truly care about people and show it.
2) you must appreciate how great an impact a good legacy can have.
Will you plant a tree?
Educator D. Elton Trueblood is said to have written, ‘We have made at least a start in discovering the meaning in human life when we plant shade trees under which we know full well we will never sit.’
The great orator Henry Ward Beecher said: ‘We should so live and labour in our times that what came to us as seed may go to the next generation as blossom, and what came to us as blossom may go to them as fruit.
This expresses the true spirit in the love of mankind.’ So what will your legacy be? What must you stop doing…start doing…or do more of to make it a reality?
It’s never too early to start thinking about what you want your life to mean after you’re gone. Just like the PS at the bottom of a letter, your legacy tells the people who follow you: ‘This is what my life was all about!’
Live with purpose and passion
Wow this is profound and, in my mind, extremely important. Thinking about your purpose and your legacy gives meaning to life which is beyond just making a living and enjoying it. It gives you the opportunity to make a difference to others who you may never meet in your lifetime, but the impact could go on for generations.
Thoughts for the week:
- What is your legacy going to be?
- Have you ever thought about this?
- We can make a huge difference to others in our lifetime.
- This week ponder on this and see if any thoughts come to mind.
- Making a difference to others results in happiness and joy in our lives.
That’s it for this week have a wonderful weekend and keep believing.
Warm regards
John
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