What Will They Say Me About After I’m Gone?
Thursday night I was talking with a group of friends and someone said, “I only want people to say good things about me at my funeral.” One of my other friends said, “I want to have my funeral before I die so I know what people will say.”
That got me thinking.
What will people say about me after I’m gone?
Today I heard in a message that effective influential people think about the end results when they start their plans and ambitions. The ultimate end result will be your funeral.
So how are you living?
A better question may be, how do you want to live?
Are you living in such a way that when you die people will remember you the way you want to be remembered?
If you want people to remember you as being a great teacher, who are you teaching? What makes you different? What makes you memorable? How is your impact different than another teachers?
If you can’t answer these questions, how can you expect someone else to answer them?
You cannot expect people to say you are a great teacher without doing anything to show you were a great teacher. You have to put some action into your goals and dreams.
If you want your legacy to be one of love, what unloveable person are you loving? Because anyone can love a loving person. That is easy. Most people show love to those that love them back. But to be different in your love, that is memorable.
So is your love any different than the other billion people in this world?
Another way to look at this is, are you fulfilling your purpose?
You most likely will not know what people will say at your funeral, unless you have a prefuneral before you die, but you will know before you die if you were following your passion, your purpose.
So if you think your purpose is to teach, teach in creative ways to spur your students on to bigger and better things. You may never see the impact of your purpose, but the world may see the ripple effect of it.
If you think your purpose is to love, love as much and as often as you can. Fulfill your purpose with each breath you take. Each breath is a breath that can either speak love or show hate.
Are you currently living a fulfilled life in pursuing your purpose? If not, today is a great day to start. There is no better time than now.
Don’t wait until tomorrow.
Don’t wait until everything is perfectly aligned.
Don’t wait a moment longer.
The people that wait will still be waiting tomorrow and then the next day and then the next.
You cannot change the world sitting on the sidelines. The only way to make your life into a living legacy is by action.
People never say at someone’s funeral, “She was great because she intended to be a great teacher,” or “the way he planned to love those children in Myanmar was amazing!”
The difference between a life and a legacy is purposeful action.
So, are you going to leave a legacy?
If not, why?
