What kind of legacy would you like to leave

[ptsum]

MG, I'm glad you came back and did some rethinking about the question. On an interesting note about genealogy, you'd be surprised some of the strange things that can happen when you find out certain things about your family history, my wife has been doing her genealogy, she knew very little about her family and she found out that one small branch of her family were wagon makers in Washington County, Pennsylvania during the colonial period, well strangely enough as I was doing some of my genealogy I found that one small branch of my family were also wagon makers in Washington County, Pennsylvania and moved across the northern part of Ohio to the Indiana border, now it's very possible that these two families knew one another back then, talk about strange coincidences.

[Tzaphkiel]

Originally Posted by coosjoaquin

In the end I don't mind but really whats with this need to leave a legacy behind? and why do we fear being forgotten?

thanks for this coosjoaquin I have to agree with you on this....when i think deeply on this question, and i do from time to time, it inevitably comes around (for me anyway, not saying that's true for anyone else), to some need of the ego, and as the post above mentions some fear of being forgotten, much like people have a fear of dying unless and until they work through and get over that.

so what seems valuable to me is not what i leave behind or accomplish, but how i live my life and how I grow and evolve as a human, that is very much an internal measure, not necessarily visible or even noticed by other people or the world.

it is said that when we leave this body, we are asked only a single question to evaluate and measure our lives by, and that is "How well have you loved?" Not how many books did you publish, not how many awards did you win, not how big of a house did you live in, not how much money you made, not how many followers you had.

so my job is to love, to radiate love, to allow the love of the Creator to pour through me and broadcast to the world in every possible way. Generally that's not overt or blatant or obvious or even visible, it's more often behind the scenes, the thoughts I hold, the feelings I cultivate. It is digging in the garden, it is loving not just my dear ones but also everyone on this planet, it is holding the truth in my hearts and in my thoughts that every one of us is a holy and sacred being.

the simple truths i pass on to my kids are live an authentic life, be who you are not what someone else tries to make you, listen to and follow your intuition, joy and happiness are the best compass to follow, and live from your heart more than from your head.

so the legacy my kids get is that they were and are loved deeply by me, simply for breathing and being alive and being who they are. And that love is not something they ever have to earn but it is their birthright.

[Terryj]

I think that as individuals we all leave a legacy behind, we may not think so, but our actions do carry forward. What makes me wonder, is how will our grandchildren or great grandchildren judge this society as a whole, because what we do today impacts those who are not even born yet. The mark of a great legacy for a society is to leave what was given to us in better shape than we received it.

[coosjoaquin]

I think this is appropriate, it's 1818's Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley:

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shatter'd visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamp'd on these lifeless things,
The hand that mock'd them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains: round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

[nay624]

"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth"
3John4

[I LOVE NORTH CAROLINA]

Originally Posted by june 7th

A "dear, sweet man" by both family members, and friends.

In short, by all who knew you.

That is what June truly thinks.

ILNC thinks Montana is a dear sweet man too

I have no children, but I have a step daughter and I hope she will always remember the faith I have in Jesus and the Christian values I have tried to encourage her to live by.

[moonsavvy]

Legacy?

To accept everyone into the Peace that I have found regardless of different belief's.

[lwowl]

This lady is a tramp ...
I AM someone's child, grandchild, greatgrand (oh really?????), and what's left to remember?
(Long)Suffering from a highly probable overdose of sage those humble (or humiliated?) folks gathered (or were simply forced to swallow)?
Bittersweet medicine mixed with lots of silent treatment from Mother Goose to stomach an ongoing food-poisoning?
Still trying to honour my best teachers and make my parents proud in some - hopefully transparent - future.
See you all t/here ... what a treat!

[Robhu]

You have already established your legacy.
You have kids that have or will have your grandkids.
Being famous or rich or being a sports hero isn't as important as just being a good person who passes on the teachings of basic human compassion to future family members.
If you have supported, loved, taken care of your family and ever helped a person in need, you will leave a legacy that will be respected by all and a proud family to remember you.
I am not rich. I'm certainly not famous.
I have 6 kids and 8 grandkids.
I have worked hard to provide for my family in the best way I could.
If my wife says she was proud to be my wife, the kids say they were proud to be my sons or daughters, and the grandkids remember how much I love them, and they remember to try to live their lives in a decent and caring way because of maybe some example I set, then that will be the only legacy I care about.