Why You Should Think About Your Legacy

Why you should think about your legacy is the first step before you think about living a life that creates your legacy.

One of my favorite pastimes is to watch old reruns of the decades-ago sitcom Three’s Company.

I adore John Ritter (the young chef who shares an apartment with two girls) and his antics. He makes me laugh in a switch-off-my-brain-and-just-enjoy kind of way.

The popular sitcom ended in America in the early eighties, which is the time I was introduced to Season 1 in India via grainy CD’s from the local library.

So what does John Ritter have to do with a grief blog?

Plenty.

The fact that he has me laughing uproariously more than a decade after his passing makes me think about something very important.

Legacy.

Ritter’s legacy lives on, a decade after he died.

He left us a gift by creating a body of work that sprang from his talents. A gift that continues to give.

Rarely do we spend any time reflecting about the legacy we’re creating for those we love and the world at large.

We don’t get to take anything from the world with us when we die. But what we give to the world is recycled and continues to live on.

The only question to ask when it is time to leave is: what am I leaving behind?

And the time to start thinking about, and planning and creating our legacy is NOW.

What we give to the world–whether it is art, music, love, laughter, peace, healing, or patience–is the only thing that will survive our death. So shouldn’t we spend our days and nights focused on birthing it?

How will the world remember you after you’re gone? Will the world have been served in some way because you were here for a while? Did you matter? Did your life matter? Did you live better? Did you love better?

So many of us are so consumed with one selfish agenda: What can the world give me?

What if we shifted that to: What does the world expect of me? How can I make my time here count?

Your legacy is important because you came here to deliver just that. That is your purpose. Nobody else can do it for you.

So if you’re spending your days, weeks and months engaged in tasks that have more to do with survival, maybe this is the wake-up call you’ve been waiting for. It’s time to review and reflect. It’s time to prioritize. It’s time to make the difference you came here for.

We all have the same Prologue. But only you have the power to create your Epilogue. Make sure your story has a good ending.