In my Principle of Marketing class, we are offered some course-related extra credit opportunities to boost our grade. I was intrigued when I went to class that Wednesday morning and was told that our extra credit would be to write the speech that we would like someone to give at our funeral. In other words, our “legacy”: what do you want to be remembered for?
I thought this concept was a little scary to write about at first, seeing as when will we die is not something we have thought about for certain. Our professor told us not to think about the aspect of death, rather than a goal we live to accomplish. I remember sitting in my kitchen counter drinking my coffee when I realized the due date was coming up. I had delayed doing it for so long because it is not an easy task to accomplish. How can we truly come to terms with ourselves and with our whole hearts think what we want to be remembered for? I started my script with the only thing I knew for certain, “I can tell you a lot of things Paulina was, but I can tell you one thing she wasn’t: she was not a quitter.” With that, I knew that I had to finish that assignment, as hard as I found the task to be.
While I wrote my legacy, I sometimes questioned if I would ever be able to get there. If I would ever be remembered as I wish I would be. It is hard to know what people think of you, especially when you are gone. As I was writing, I realized that I was no longer writing to have something to turn in to my professor and get my extra credit points. I was writing because I wanted to know what I wanted to be remembered for. I wanted to have a guide, a goal written, an ideal self to look up to. I also realized that what I was writing did not focus on the amount of money I made, or the amount of properties, or the amount of shoes, or clothes I owned. I wanted to be remembered for the amount of people I helped, the amount of smiles I brought to the world, the value of my conversations, my insights, and my heart. That’s when you figure the meaning of life, and it just makes sense we find that meaning when thinking about what we wish to be remembered for.
As humans, we tend to look up to others. We find role models, inspirational figures, someone who maybe got the job we wanted, or ran the kilometers we aspired to run. The person who got the golden medal we were striving for, or the one who got the consecutive 4.0 GPA in college. This assignment made me realize that as weird as it might be, our role model might be ourselves. Our future self, the one we aspire to be. That person we wish to become. And the goal is to one day, look at the mirror and see that person reflected on the other side. No longer are you dreaming about it, but you are making that dream a reality. That’s how you make those words on your legacy true.
As I read through my legacy, I constantly thought, “Wow, how cool it would be for this to actually be me.” To which my thoughts proceeded to question, “What is stopping me from getting there?” Who says that can’t be me? No one. We are the only ones who put the barriers that stop us from getting where we want to be. I decided to keep this assignment with me, as I reminder of where I am headed, what the destination is. This is my motivation going forward.
It is crazy to think about the impact that little things can have on others. My professor might have no idea on the significance that this assignment had on my life. The role it plays and will continue to play. If I can leave you with one thing that I learned writing my legacy, is that you are behind schedule if you have not yet written yours. I know the concept is weird at first, and you will probably struggle a little while writing it, but trust me, once you have a legacy that is worth living towards, you will find yourself striving to become that person you are talking about, and the person that you want to be remembered to be. Establish your destination so when things get hard, you remind yourself why the journey is worth it.