Entering my study, I picked up a book that keeps yelling at me, as if the fact it sits so quietly on the file cabinet (yes, I still have a file cabinet), has no bearing on the outcome of my day. I began a search for whatever it was wanting to tell me, and it didn't take long before I knew.
"The value of our lives is not determined by what we do for ourselves. The value of our lives is determined by what we do for others." ~Simon Sinek, author of Together is Better
The thought processes from nigh on a year, now, have surrounded what I would leave behind when it's time to say goodbye to planet Earth. What will my legacy look like? What defines a legacy, anyway? What does it really consist of? Doesn't everyone get to the place of focusing on their legacy, at some point? Really focusing? Do they ask the hard questions, like, "Just how long will I be remembered?" "How soon will my voice be forgotten?" "What value was my life while living here?" "Just how much have I messed up?" "Will my grand-babies remember me?" I don't know about your thought processes, but those little neurons that fire inside my brain can, at times, over-ride every thought other than the one being focused on at the moment. And that thought explores the universe of possibilities...until I demand it to stop.
This is my conclusion: If my legacy is to be judged by others, let it be by the character of the children my husband and I have raised and the people we have led, or the impact we had in lives of the people around us. Not by how much money we acquired, or by what financial assets we have. That is what we should aim for. Right? We should live our lives for the legacies we want to leave. By the mark we wish to leave behind for the world.
Just remember...it's a journey, not a leisure walk.
And because of that journey, here you will find me...in Mary's World.
