On leaving behind a Legacy

It’s been a few weeks of decidedly low motivation, little inspiration coming down from the matrix and the warmth of the terrace luring me away from my regular window in the front of the house.

That been said I was inspired by a visit on Sunday from one of my most inspirational friends which shook me out of my self-imposed isolation (so to say).

We chatted as we do about Life, Family, Children and inevitably got to talking about Legacies – or rather the combination of ambitions, aspirations, achievements and fears.

“Leaving a legacy is an important part of your life’s work. A legacy develops from a life dedicated to self-reflection and purpose. What will be revealed and what will endure is a truthful and value driven body of living.“

I remember a few years ago an ex-president talking about legacies and not always being able to deliver what the dream was.

I remember at the time feeling really inspired by him.

I had to dive into the archives to find it !

It’s a long session but the point of me sharing is the wisdom in the quote below. when asked about what he thought of “his” legacy…

“I saw myself as a relay runner. I would take the baton and I would run my leg of the race. And then I’d pass the baton to someone else. . . Each generation tries to make progress knowing that what we do is not going to be perfect. . . But, hopefully, we’ve run our leg of the race effectively – and the world’s gotten a little bit better.”

That’s really an inspiration, we don’t have to start everything new again, we can , “Make it better” for our colleagues and for the next generation.

But then again, he was an inspirational man.

Speaking of which my absolution from the News media has also led to my self-imposed exile 😊, i find myself talking more to Alexa …and the fur-babies.

All it takes is a few minutes of listening to “Alexa, world News highlights” and it’s a quick “Alexa …STOP”….

I wish all people had this function.

Seth has been a little more visible of late and the following nugget came from him , possibly a week or so ago.

“I’ve dealt with this before”

There’s a huge gulf between earned expertise and strong opinion.

Knowing what others who have come before have done (and having successfully done it yourself) is demonstrably more effective than simply acting as if your opinion matters. Whether you’re dealing a lawsuit, cancer or a sous vide machine, you’re better off talking with someone who has earned their experience.

There’s a reason that there are very few loud amateur locksmiths. Either the lock opens or it doesn’t. Untrained voices tend to reserve their work for endeavors in which the results are either difficult to measure or happen far in the future.

This also adds to the part of the “Creating a Legacy” reflection, it’s the old adage of Actions speak volumes….

Of course all the elements of my Reflection just keep coming…coincidence …I think not 😊 ( Gibbs rule # 39)

Of course there is also always the fear of failure, the what if’s….

The Stoic’s have a cure for that !

The lesson for yesterday which also galvanised me into print ( so to say), Luck is a consequence of Effort and Action and Ambition…

I couldn’t just leave it there now could I …so diving a little deeper into what the great knowledge of the internet had to offer I came across a few other nuggets …

Leaving a legacy means more than providing an inheritance for your children. Too often, inheritances are squandered and forgotten. A legacy, on the other hand, means leaving behind not just financial security, but a sense of family history, belonging, and purpose, generation after generation.

Reflect and Decide What is Most Important in Your Life
When you review your life’s journey, several ideas may come to mind: Did you grow and perhaps transform your life, make changes when you needed to, find your truth, inspire others, become a leader or influence others? Touching lives and exemplifying a truthful path is paramount to living a joyful and purposeful life. Your legacy will live on.

Share Your Blessings With Others
I was walking two dogs the other day — one dog was totally blind and the other dog stubbornly knew her mind. I stopped suddenly in the middle of my son’s beautiful neighborhood to observe with wonder the late afternoon thunderclouds bulging out from the mountains. I thought of all the blessings I have in life and how I try to be mindful of sharing with others the richness of my life. I have been given abundance and such is my fate. And it is my legacy to give back this abundance to others. Everyone has blessings to share, even if it a simple smile of acknowledgement

Be a Mentor to Others
A mentor by definition is a more experienced or more knowledgeable person with an area of expertise. Everyone has some significant truth to impart to others that will guide less experienced people in life. The mentoring/mentee relationship involves personal development and support. This process involves an exchange of knowledge complimented by psychological and/or social support that is crucial to sustaining new mindsets. Sometimes these relationships last a lifetime, even when the mentee has moved on to influence others.

Pursue Your Passions Because They Are Infectious
Your passions are your legacy. Passion comes from an outpouring of the interests and ideas that make a difference in your life. Finding and pursing your passion allows you to see your destiny clearly. That’s what happened to me with yoga and dancing tango. I can attest to the fact that life won’t be any fun if you don’t pursue your passions to the fullest. It’s contagious. It’s religious. It’s religious. Don’t miss the opportunity to pursue your passions and then continue to look for new adventures.

Support the People and Causes That are Important to You
My best friend of decades ago once asked me what I thought was the most important attribute of friendship. I replied that support was the major theme of friendship. There isn’t any more wonderful feeling in life than making the choice to sustain loyalty to a friend by lovingly supporting everything that is good and right about that person’s life. My friend was an advocate of a few major causes in the city we resided in and I supported those causes, too, as she supported mine. Although we parted ways when I moved out of the city, she would always reach out to me and remember my work, my life and my family.

I hope that they provide some reflection, I know they did for me.

For what ever reason I have been hearing this song in my head for days now and yes, it is one of my favourites but I don’t think anyone could carry the lyrics better than Michael Stipes and REM

“Around The Sun”

I want the sun to shine on me
I want the truth to set me free
I wish the followers would lead
with a voice so strong it could knock me to my knees

Hold on world ’cause you don’t know what’s coming
Hold on world ’cause I’m not jumping off
Hold onto this boy a little longer
Take another trip around the sun

If I jumped into the ocean to believe
If I climbed a mountain would I have to reach?
Do I even dare to speak?–to dream?–believe?
Give me a voice so strong
I can question what I have seen

Hold on world ’cause you don’t know what’s coming
Hold on world ’cause I’m not jumping off
Hold onto this boy a little longer
Take another trip around the sun

Around the sun
Around the sun
Around the sun
Let my dreams set me free.
Believe. believe.
Now now now now now now

Speaking of the Truth…Setting you free…(Don’t judge …it’s the news highlights again!)

Courtesy of Seth Godin (again)

But what if it works?

The difference between science and conspiracy theory/superstition is simple:

Good science leads to useful insights. And good science is the cure for bad science.

On the other hand, there are no good conspiracy theories, because they are attractive precisely because they’re unproven, imprecise and non-falsifiable. They’re not actually theories at all. They use confusion to create a sense of comfort and control when it’s in short supply.

It’s almost impossible to tell a good conspiracy theory from a bad one, hence they don’t work as theories.

And good conspiracy theories don’t lead to useful insights, nor do they help drive out the bad conspiracy theories. You can’t productively question someone’s superstition, because it never really thought it was an actual explanation of how the world is.

A good scientist has a theory and she’s eager to be proven wrong, so she can make better science. And delighted to be proven right, because she now has a useful insight.

Reality doesn’t care whether or not we believe in it, but it’s more useful for all of us when we understand it.

I hope the week ahead is an awesome one, be the Legacy you dream of for your family ( or yourself)

A late inclusion…thank you Seth !

A legacy of Mandela

Others can better write about Nelson Mandela’s impact on the world stage, on how he stood up for the dignity of all people and on how he changed our world.

For those that seek to make a change in the world, whether global or local, one lesson of his life is this:

You can.

You can make a difference.

You can stand up to insurmountable forces.

You can put up with far more than you think you can.

Your lever is far longer than you imagine it is, if you choose to use it.

If you don’t require the journey to be easy or comfortable or safe, you can change the world.