Our legacy is something we leave behind and is what people remember us by, long after we’ve left these shores.
Our contributing legacies
I'm not sure we realise that as we go about our daily lives, we automatically contribute to our legacy. It’s not just something that just happens when we die. It’s much more than that and is why it's so important for others to think nice thoughts about us when we’re no longer here.
Shaping your legacy
We can shape our own legacy, or inevitably it gets shaped for us. It’s not something we think about on a conscious level. If we did think about it, we'd get a lot more of what we do in our lives right. A legacy can be a totally positive experience or it will serve to do the opposite. It can be another person’s nightmare.
Making our legacy
When we think about a legacy we should think about what we want our focus to be, what our priorities are and how we want to be remembered, when we’re gone. If we took our time to understand what having a legacy means, or what purpose it serves, we would all change our thinking and the way we act. Quite often we don’t think about our behaviour and what impact our behaviour has on other people, but that impact will always be our legacy.
Leave fond memories
We should always make sure that the people whose lives we touch have fond memories etched as an imprint in their minds for all the right reasons. legacy isn’t just about what we leave our loved ones in our Will. If we’re kind, caring and compassionate that becomes our legacy. If we’re mean and uncaring that also becomes our legacy too, so it’s important we get it right.
For me a legacy is a character reference; it’s also a memory. We should want people to have good memories of us.
I would hope people will have good memories of me.
I don't think I've done anything that would make them think less of me. My father's legacy is of a kind, good, giving man. He is well known in this community as was his father. Both for being the type of person that would give the shirt off their back if someone needed it.
I would hope people know that about me also. You're right. A legacy is more than what we leave behind. It's about how we live our lives.
It's lovely that your father and his father both left the same legacy. As individuals we have the capacity to work out how we should behave and what kind of legacy we want to leave behind, but everyone's interpretation of us will be different.
Unfortunately Lisa what we see of ourselves, isn't what someone else sees in us. We'll never really know the answer to that unless we ask.
I think most people are concerned about what they leave behind, not necessarily material things but how they are thought of.
It is nice to think back and have fond memories of people who are no longer here and at the end of the day that's all we really have, memories.
Memories of material things quickly fade away.
My experience isn't the same unfortunately, but I do agree with you that some people genuinely would like to be remembered for being kind and compassionate.
Material things should never replace how we're thought of.