Legacy
Webster’s Dictionary defines “legacy” as “something transmitted by or received from an ancestor or predecessor or from the past.”
The prospect of being in a wheelchair and potentially dysfunctional within six months dis not give a lot of time to create a legacy, so I thought. But not true. Rethinking this, legacy can take on many forms, it may be your life’s work or a difference you’ve made to your community, and at the same time it can be the examples you’ve set through how you live, and you’ve met the challenges in your life.
If your life’s timeline has suddenly shortened, the opportunity to create a legacy still exists. Question: As you face this challenge, what examples do you want to set to the people around you? What can you model to those around you, that in someway shares wisdom or inspires? Your legacy may be to:
- Reconcile certain things from a place of honesty
- Let people know what they mean to you
- Display courage and/or vulnerability
- Be real about your fears and/or your certainties
We shouldn’t confine ‘legacy’ to material values only, instead it can be based on human values such as authenticity and generosity.
About these strategies
Welcome. These strategies are for people who’ve been diagnosed with a terminal or life threatening illness. If that’s you, I’m sharing them because I know something about what you’re going through, they helped me and so maybe they can help you too.
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