The other day I was thinking about the legacy of the life I live. Actually, I was thinking about my mother, father, and brother’s legacy in my life. I always come away from these thoughts with gratitude for the people I come from. This time was no exception.
At about the same time, I became curious as to what I was writing four years ago when I started my coaching blog. Ironically, the first blog that I came to was from August, 2015. It was a piece on “legacy.” What was the cosmic connection that brought the thought and the action together? Not sure. I decided I would share it with you as a way for both of us to reflect about four years ago, and connect them to our lives today.
The Coach is In…
August 18, 2015
From time to time I will reflect for myself, and ask others, “What do you want your legacy to be.” For me this is an ‘intention’ question. Intention questions can help guide our choices. Our life is the sum total of those choices. Said another way, we are our choices.
Often, I hear, “I want to live life well.” Would that be your answer? What does living life well look like for you? These are my current thoughts and reflections for what it looks like for me.
- A man of faith; faith in my creator that I call God; faith that things will turn out as they need to; faith that most people want to be and do good things
- That I will be ‘awake’ and ‘aware’
- That I will be a positive energy in people’s lives; that I will help them find the best that is in them; that I will find and express the best that is in me; lately, I have been referring to this as “the best version of myself”
- That I will live a life of gratitude; that every day I will marvel at God’s handiwork That I will be thankful for work, for health, for His grace, for His gifts
- …for incredible friends that support and love me
- …for an incredible wife
- …for incredible children, and now a grandchild
- …for all the people that I share DNA with
- …for those people that took an interest in me, believed in me, and help me believe in myself
- …for those moments in my life that ‘wowed’ me, moved me to tears; for those moments that were full of incredible pain, and those that were full of incredible gladness
- That I will respond to the love that has flowed in my life and love others well
- That I will have compassion
- That I will ‘squeeze’ all I can out of every day; and stop and reflect often on the marvel of it all
- That I will freely give of my gifts
- That I will be generous
- That I will have made the world a better place
- That I will see more of what I did well than what I didn’t do
- That my life will honor my parents
- That I will encourage others to experience the ‘good news’ of who they are
- That I will be satisfied with what I have
- To remember that I don’t have a message, I am the message
I don’t spend much time ‘thinking’ about legacy, but I do spend time living with ‘intention.’ Those things I have listed are a large part of the intention I try to live with every day.
As I read back over the blog from 2015 my entries haven’t changed. I wouldn’t really expect them to. I have more to be thankful for – specifically, two more grand children with one on the way in December. I have transitioned into semi-retirement, but still have the same intentions about how I show up in people’s lives. The greater challenge is turning good intentions into actions, for it is in those daily actions in all our lives that builds our legacy .
If you live the next four years as you have lived the last four years will that be okay? Why or why not? If there is something to change, what would it be? What will be your biggest obstacle? What one or two steps could you take this month that would start you on a better path? Are you willing to do those? Are you willing to build the next step, and the next step, and the step after that to build your journey of greater success? Finally, what one or two things would you like to do over the next four years that would have the greatest impact on improving how you are living your life?
I know, sometimes life’s toughest questions expose us and make our head hurt. It is comforting that we have most, if not all, of the answers to those questions. We don’t need anyone else’s power to become a higher version of ourselves. We just need to care enough about ourselves to start the journey to a different/better life. Is this the right? If not now, when?