Leaving a Legacy
We yearn to leave a legacy behind. And more often than not it is a building which we have built or donated money to build and which houses some activity which we at that point of time thought reflected our essence of being and therefore would stand as an appropriate remembrance of us. The activity within the building could be a school or college or NGO initiative, or library or gymnasium or recreation center or an old age home or a company and so on. But once we have passed on, do people remember us because of the building or what it houses or because of any of our achievements or because of the person we were. And for how long are we remembered?
Today when we are pressured relentlessly at work, stretched to the limit with familial responsibilities, and enticed to live a life brimming with entertainment, we are prone to forget even our near and dear ones within a week or fortnight. Their memory may resurface because of certain rituals to be performed at intervals of a month or yearly but which are usually done in a very perfunctory manner. And what is remembered is the filtered essence of one’s life as it was lived and experienced by people on this earth.
And usually it is not that which we worked so hard to be remembered for. It is very often the unintended outcomes of our living that have impacted people which we are not even aware of most of the times. The words of praise or encouragement which we may have unconsciously given or the times when we have upbraided people but in a very honest way so that they may grow, or when we have silently listened to a person’s loneliness and confusion without offering any advice — These are the moments for which we will be remembered but which we do not attach importance to because we perceive it as part of the process of living life truthfully. That is the irony. What we want to be remembered for and what people will actually remember us for may not be in sync.
So should we be so concerned about our legacy or live transparent and honest lives from moment to moment, sourcing from the truth which we experience within?
