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Abstract

provide a better understanding of what legacy means:</p><blockquote id="7264"><p>“Legacy. What is a legacy? It’s planting seeds in a garden you never get to see.” Lin-Manuel Miranda (1980-present)</p></blockquote><p id="a96e">I love this analogy as it rings true. Our legacy remains after we leave, so why leave its care to chance? We can make preparations until the time we leave the earth to see that it will produce a crop after we are gone.</p><blockquote id="ae0f"><p>“We all die. The goal isn’t to live forever, but to leave behind something that will.” Chuck Palahniuk (1962-present)</p></blockquote><p id="7f5f">This quote reminds me to be purposeful in creating the legacy we leave behind.</p><blockquote id="6ed0"><p>“Legacy is not leaving something for people. It’s leaving something in people.” Peter Strople (1959-present)</p></blockquote><p id="999e">I find this to be one of the more profound explanations of legacy. Nothing is more important than our relationships, yet how many think of what we will be leaving behind in those we love?</p><blockquote id="b921"><p>“What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.” — Pericles (495–425 BC)</p></blockquote><p id="5f70">As with the last quote, Pericles’ words written more than two thousand years ago show the importance of relationships.</p><p id="fc7e">Using everything I found, the meaning of legacy seems to point to:</p><p id="519c"><b>What we leave for and in others, and how it will manifest in them while being passed to future generations.</b></p><h2 id="1f56">Leaving a legacy</h2><p id="3490">A significant way to influence your legacy is to create personal meaning and purpose in the present. The hope is to pass this to the generations to follow, to benefit them in their lives.</p><p id="6079">Some questions to ask yourself include:</p><ul><li>“What will people remember about my life?”</li><li>“What will they say about me?”</li><li>“How long will they remember me and the impact my life made?”</li></ul><p id="82dc">Since a legacy benefits others after you are gone, let’s look at how you can leave something behind.</p><blockquote id="2c1a"><p>“Please think about your legacy because you are writing it every day.” Gary Vaynerchuk (1975-present)</p></blockquote><p id="9c54"><b>One of the simplest ways to leave a legacy is by what you write.</b> I continue to treasure the things my wife wrote before she died at a young age from cancer. I hope these writings go to our children and their children and will live far beyond them as a remembrance of her. In addition to her written words, we have photos, videos, and voice recordings by which we see and hear her as the precious person she was.</p><p id="7774">Some other ways you can leave a legacy include:</p><ul><li>Become a living example of a mother or father, man or woman that others will never forget</li><li>Cherishing and spending time with those you love will carry meaning beyond your life</li><li>Sharing family stories, traditions, and music to be passed from generation to generation</li><li>Helping others understand their purpose in life</li><li>Living a good and moral life to influence those you love and care for</li><li>Living by sound values and instilling them in those you love</li><li>Mentoring and sharing your wisdom</li><li>What you have written</li><li>Journals</li><l

Options

i>Books</li><li>Photos, video, film, audio recordings</li><li>Money (in a foundation or trust)</li><li>Land and buildings</li><li>A BusinessYour faith and beliefs — the most significant things you can pass on to influence the generations beyond your life</li></ul><blockquote id="a7e3"><p>“The greatest legacy one can pass on to one’s children and grandchildren is not money or other material things accumulated in one’s life, but rather a legacy of character and faith.” Billy Graham (1918–2018)</p></blockquote><p id="9cb1">These are just a few ways you can leave your mark on the world. What other ways come to mind?</p><h2 id="9d6d">Final thoughts</h2><p id="cba8">One day we will cease to live in this present form. What impact can you make on the world that will live beyond your lifetime? Consider that whatever you do, it <b>must impact people and relationships to have lasting significance</b>. This is what life is about and the reason to leave a legacy.</p><p id="d4b7">By asking yourself this important question, you will begin the process of creating a legacy:</p><p id="b750"><b>Who are the most important people in my life, and how can I make a difference in their lives now and in the future?</b></p><p id="cd39">Give the question careful consideration and begin creating your legacy in the present so that it may live in the future. Think of the good it will do, how you will have contributed to the world, and for those for which you care. That is what makes life meaningful and worth living!</p><p id="dc44"><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/williamabbate/">LinkedIn</a> |<a href="https://twitter.com/billabbate">Twitter</a>| <a href="https://medium.com/@BillAbbate">Medium</a>| <a href="http://billabbate.com/">UncommonSense</a>| <a href="http://www.amazon.com/author/billabbate">AmazonAuthorPage</a> | <a href="https://parler.com/BillAbbate">Parlor</a></p><p id="2bac"><a href="https://readmedium.com/d5b8d684dcbc?source=post_page-----834577ca2b4a----------------------">Bill Abbate</a> Leadership Writer and Editor in <a href="https://medium.com/illumination">ILLUMINATION</a></p><p id="bedd">Thank you for reading this article! If you enjoyed it, please check out the others below!</p><div id="2708" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/what-can-your-writing-create-3315425d083c"> <div> <div> <h2>What Can Your Writing Create?</h2> <div><h3>Do you appreciate what you create?</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*-i14PbDH7QI1nK2F-9nm-A.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="545d" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/how-do-you-use-your-influence-f86210dd9719"> <div> <div> <h2>How Do You Use Your Influence?</h2> <div><h3>Better understand the reach of your influence</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*OldRHCWuiuANdRx_VyUDrQ.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div></article></body>

Inspiration and Life

What Will Your Legacy Be?

Leave a meaningful legacy to your life

A time will come later in life when you look back. You will think about how you have arrived where you are, what you have done or not done, and wonder what is next. This experience usually happens around middle age or after.

The pattern

Patterns in life are natural and inescapable. One of the most common patterns is conception, birth, growth, and death. This is called the progression of life. All living things follow this pattern, including work, marriage, relationships, home, life, etc. Everything starts by being conceived, birthed, matured, and ultimately ended.

You may wonder, “what about after the end?” Christianity teaches us we are born into a new life in Heaven after death. Physical life is like a seed. The seed is planted (conceived), cared for (birthed), and grown (growth) in the soil of life. It flourishes for a time and eventually dies (death.)

Once dead, you are rebirthed into the spiritual world. Life after this existence will be very different. It will be beyond anything we can think or imagine. All physical limitations will disappear, and everything will change, including time and space.

However, most of us eventually wonder if we have made a difference in the world. We hope to leave something behind. Something people will remember us by after we’re gone. At this time, we begin giving more thought to what legacy means. You ask yourself questions such as:

What will my legacy be?
What mark will I leave on this earth?
Why does it matter?
How can I leave a legacy?

Let’s examine these questions.

The meaning of legacy

My usual go-to when trying to understand the meaning of a word is to use Google’s Oxford languages dictionary. Like most dictionaries, I found its definition of legacy was weak. The Merriam-Webster dictionary was a little better:

legacy (noun) 1. a gift by will especially of money or other personal property 2. something transmitted by or received from an ancestor or predecessor or from the past. Merriam-Webster

This definition left me wanting. Then I found the Wikipedia dictionary, Wiktionary.

legacy (noun) — Something inherited from a predecessor or the past; a heritage. — A piece of ones’ history left behind for following generations to experience. Wikitionary

While better than the mainstream dictionaries, it does not provide the clarity I sought. When something is unclear, I usually turn to quotes. A good quote can say a great deal in a few words.

Following are a few that provide a better understanding of what legacy means:

“Legacy. What is a legacy? It’s planting seeds in a garden you never get to see.” Lin-Manuel Miranda (1980-present)

I love this analogy as it rings true. Our legacy remains after we leave, so why leave its care to chance? We can make preparations until the time we leave the earth to see that it will produce a crop after we are gone.

“We all die. The goal isn’t to live forever, but to leave behind something that will.” Chuck Palahniuk (1962-present)

This quote reminds me to be purposeful in creating the legacy we leave behind.

“Legacy is not leaving something for people. It’s leaving something in people.” Peter Strople (1959-present)

I find this to be one of the more profound explanations of legacy. Nothing is more important than our relationships, yet how many think of what we will be leaving behind in those we love?

“What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.” — Pericles (495–425 BC)

As with the last quote, Pericles’ words written more than two thousand years ago show the importance of relationships.

Using everything I found, the meaning of legacy seems to point to:

What we leave for and in others, and how it will manifest in them while being passed to future generations.

Leaving a legacy

A significant way to influence your legacy is to create personal meaning and purpose in the present. The hope is to pass this to the generations to follow, to benefit them in their lives.

Some questions to ask yourself include:

“What will people remember about my life?”
“What will they say about me?”
“How long will they remember me and the impact my life made?”

Since a legacy benefits others after you are gone, let’s look at how you can leave something behind.

“Please think about your legacy because you are writing it every day.” Gary Vaynerchuk (1975-present)

One of the simplest ways to leave a legacy is by what you write. I continue to treasure the things my wife wrote before she died at a young age from cancer. I hope these writings go to our children and their children and will live far beyond them as a remembrance of her. In addition to her written words, we have photos, videos, and voice recordings by which we see and hear her as the precious person she was.

Some other ways you can leave a legacy include:

Become a living example of a mother or father, man or woman that others will never forget
Cherishing and spending time with those you love will carry meaning beyond your life
Sharing family stories, traditions, and music to be passed from generation to generation
Helping others understand their purpose in life
Living a good and moral life to influence those you love and care for
Living by sound values and instilling them in those you love
Mentoring and sharing your wisdom
What you have written
Journals
Books
Photos, video, film, audio recordings
Money (in a foundation or trust)
Land and buildings
A BusinessYour faith and beliefs — the most significant things you can pass on to influence the generations beyond your life

“The greatest legacy one can pass on to one’s children and grandchildren is not money or other material things accumulated in one’s life, but rather a legacy of character and faith.” Billy Graham (1918–2018)

These are just a few ways you can leave your mark on the world. What other ways come to mind?

Final thoughts

One day we will cease to live in this present form. What impact can you make on the world that will live beyond your lifetime? Consider that whatever you do, it must impact people and relationships to have lasting significance. This is what life is about and the reason to leave a legacy.

By asking yourself this important question, you will begin the process of creating a legacy:

Who are the most important people in my life, and how can I make a difference in their lives now and in the future?

Give the question careful consideration and begin creating your legacy in the present so that it may live in the future. Think of the good it will do, how you will have contributed to the world, and for those for which you care. That is what makes life meaningful and worth living!

Bill Abbate Leadership Writer and Editor in ILLUMINATION

Thank you for reading this article! If you enjoyed it, please check out the others below!