August is the month to celebrate your legacy. Your legacy is what you are remembered for or what you have left behind that is important to someone or has influenced others. During this month you can think about your past and present actions. What do you want to be remembered for? What choices have you made that you feel had a lasting impact on your children and others around you? Everything we do has a lasting effect on at least one other person and our legacies grow from there.
What are some good examples of a legacy?
- For some, a legacy will be money or property. They will bequeath it to their children or their friends and other relatives.
- Your legacy can be what you stand for. This could be world peace, environmental concerns or helping the poor or less fortunate.
- A legacy can be passing on an interest in music, writing or painting. Many parents leave handmade items for their children or books filled with photographs of generations past.
- More than anything, a good example is instilling in others a sense of goodness or kindness. Being remembered as a person who others could count on is no small feat. It’s one of the most important legacies you could leave.
Try to consciously leave a lasting impression that is positive. It doesn’t matter where you’re at in life or how successful you feel that you have been. When your children remember you in the future, it’s doubtful that they’ll tell others that you were great at making money! They would prefer to remember you as someone who cared and was always there for them. If you are purposefully trying to create a legacy, think carefully. Twenty years after you pass away, what would you like others to say or think about you?
