Choose Your Legacy
Some people believe that we choose our own destinies. I used to think I was a person who believed that – which is not to say that I was a person who believed it – I just thought I did. I have never believed in fate – that our lives are but a train riding on rails laid out before us by some higher being. How convenient that would be – absolving us of all responsibility for our actions and situations. So this non-belief led me to “I choose my own destiny”– I like the sound of it – I‘m in control of me! But, I realize that I can’t buy into this line of thinking either. Things happen to us that we have no control over, some are life altering, therefore affecting our destiny. As well, one might strive all their life to achieve a particular goal, never to attain it, but not due to the lack of trying.
And so, I have come to realize that what I do believe is that we can choose our personal legacy. What are we each leaving behind? Not in terms of fortune or material wealth, but rather our reputations, our values, our sense of right and wrong. How will you be remembered? What values are you passing to those who will follow you? We all touch so many other lives in this world, often unaware that we are leaving an impression on another – effecting how they might look at life.
“Don’t worry that your children do not listen to all that you say, instead worry that they see all that you do.”
-- Robert Fulghum --
“The only measure of your words and your deeds will be the love you leave behind when you’re done.”
-- Fred Small --
Years ago, reflecting on some unfortunate events in my life, I came to the realization that it is not important what happens to us during our lives, it is what we do with what happens to us that matters. How I deal with or react to situations and/or other people is what defines me as a person. I can not always control what happens to me or how I am treated by others, but I can choose how I respond. That is my legacy.
“We are the choices we make.”
-- Robert James Waller –
“For it is the relationships in our lives that define us. How we treat others is the best measure of our compassion and achievement.”
-- Mike Roe –
What a different world it would be if everyone would consider thier legacy in every choice they make.
posted by 10-8-ious | 5:26 PM
3 Comments:
I am humbled to be quoted here...
I agree with your assessment on legacy. You can't choose your destiny, because it is not predetermined. You can't predict or control what is going to happen next in life. You can only react. How you react to a given situation is what you control, how you treat others, what decisions you make. That is what you can affect, and that defines your legacy.
One has to be careful however. While we would like to each leave a legacy that we would be proud of, we must not become overly concerned with it's details and definition. If we do, we will become selfish and self-centered. Our reactions will be plotted to benefit us instead of those on the other end of the situation. Then we will fail for we are more worried about ourself than doing the right thing.
Do the right thing, be fair and compassionate in whatever you do. And your legacy will take care of itself.
see - I would like to think that by thinking about the legacy we are leaving in each decision we would become less self-centered, because selfishness is not the legacy we would want to leave. We would make every decision as though we were to be judged on that decision and therefore make the decision that we knew was 'right'.
or at least those of us who care what legacy we leave.
I think that most all of the world's religions address this (not that their followers do). Most religions are more alike then different. We all pretty much share the same "golden rules" -- what's amazing is the controversy that arises from our different interpretations!
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