What do you want to be remembered for?
Creating a legacy of gratitude can leave a unique kind of impact on the world. Often, people with great legacies are known for their professional achievements. It’s no surprise that people leading organizations can also leave a big impact on the world.
What might surprise you though are the moments that remind you of our own legacy. It’s not uncommon for these moments to present themselves as we are appreciating the hard work and dedication of others. As we wonder how we as an individual could achieve something like they did, maybe even pondering our own potential to reach equivalent goals.
The Stunning Trail
We found a stunning trail this weekend while visiting a new town on the Oregon Coast. It was actually a “boardwalk”, a wooden path through a beautiful wetlands area called the Cedar Wetlands Nature Preserve. The end of the trail had one of the largest, Western Red Cedar trees.
The plaque at the front of the trail recognized the hard work of Terri Michel and her passion and dedication to land use planning and the untapped potential she saw in her community. To be honest, it was one of the highlights of our weekend. It was such a lovely path with interesting foliage along the way.
While I was on the path, I had a sense of Terri and felt an immense sense of gratitude that her deep commitment to this project gave us, complete strangers, visitors to her community, an opportunity to enjoy what she had worked so hard to create. I even said a little blessing thanking her for the time we’d spent on the walk.
Legacy is For the Future
A legacy is what you do now to provide for someone or something in the future. A legacy is something you leave behind, some effect you had on others, your space, your community, your world.
Face it, maybe you haven’t even thought about your legacy. But each and every day of your life you have the opportunity to create it: with your interactions, your choices, your actions.
Creating a legacy of gratitude doesn’t have to have a colossal impact, it can be small changes, but changes that might move things forward in an organization or a community.
With all the angst going on in our world, perhaps we could all use to spend some time envisioning what legacy we might want to leave for others.
Love to know if you’ve ever given much thought to your own legacy. Join the conversation with us on LinkedIn.
