If you are goal focused, like me, you often think about things like your exit plan from work, your plans for the future, and sometimes what your legacy is going to be. I looked up the word legacy in the dictionary and it said:
1. Law . a gift of property, especially personal property, as money, by will; a bequest.
2.anything handed down from the past, as from an ancestor or predecessor: the legacy of ancient Rome.
So, sure I do think about the materials things I will leave behind -why not? But what about what you "hand down" to those most important people like your family and those people you work with closely, your colleagues and staff. What about your clients or patients? What is the legacy you are leaving?
It has very little to do with what you accomplish or earn. It has everything to do with how you live. Your children will have a legacy given to them by you based on how you live your life each day. And you know, the problem with this, is we rarely live in the present moment. We are usually fretting about things that have happened to us the past. Slights, mistakes, problems, etc. And we certainly have our eyes fixed in the near and long term future and we worry excessively about it. Worry is poison -the worst kind of poison. So we are rarely our best selves with everyone in our lives in the present moment. It's kind of like that movie with Adam Sandler in which he had a remote control that let him fast forward through his life. He was there -his body was -but his mind was already in the future.
Are your kids and co-workers going to speak about you at your funeral and describe you as the person you are or the person you wish you were?
It's time to focus on the blessings you have in your life today. Actually stop and smell the roses. Are you so busy and so important and so accomplished that you can postpone living a life filled with meaning and love and abundance? I'll answer that one for you. You're not. That day never catches up with you.
The greatest accomplishment of your life is to live it and to live it well. THE JOURNEY IS THE DESTINATION.
Try this. Pay attention to your state of mind for a day or two. Really pay attention. Are you living in the present moment? Are you thankful for the abundance you DO have? Now, pay close attention to how you are speaking to and behaving towards the people in your life. See how they are speaking to and behaving with you. It is remarkably similar. You see, how we treat others is reflected back at us as if there were a mirror right in front of us at all times. Be short and snippy or sarcastic with others -get it back. Or you might get fearful reactions back. Decide to change how you treat others and in a very short period of time you'll find your patient and supportive words reflected back at you.
Folks, this is one of the biggest secrets there is: You can heal most of your relationships without every involving anyone else. You don't have to tell them you're doing it. It can be your own secret agenda. You will be amazed at how well it works.
And that legacy? You'll leave behind people who love respect and admire you for the person you were -every day of your blessed lucky life.
