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 What
is a Living Legacy?
I really do not market myself as a “coach” as I feel it is an
avocation and career that at this time requires explanation. When I
introduce myself as a strategist people seem to pick up on my value
more quickly. I also look at Legacy a little differently than the
traditional definition. I feel it is a word that my generation
(Generation X is what I am told we are) has fallen away from the
empowerment and usefulness it brings to our lives. Here is my
definition of Legacy:
“Taking total responsibility now for the impressions we are living
and leaving for all to see, experience, follow, read and remember”
Let’s go back a ways for this story. I feel like Sophia on The
Golden Girls:
Picture this: the coastline, Stewart Florida, the year 1999…
It was hardly beach weather for most people with it being over cast,
windy and a slight chilly drizzle falling. I had the whole beach to
myself. Perfect. As much as I was treasuring the time I had left
with my father, I needed to get away from the medications, hospice
nurses and impending end to our lives as we all had known it. As I
walked along reflecting and looking for shells, beach glass and
anything collectable, I noticed a little girl keeping busy by
herself. I walked on…
I came upon many empty Hermit crab shells and noticed I had company.
The
little girl asked why the shells were empty and did it mean the
Hermit crab had died? I told her to my knowledge Hermit crabs
outgrow their shell or “home” and then move into new shells leaving
the discarded one available for a younger and/or smaller crab. I
smiled at her and I walked on. I really needed to not think for a
while.
She then asked me if the crabs that moved out were the parents,
which to that I answered I did not know though maybe it was
possible. I was attempting to figure out a way to politely excuse
myself and as I was getting ready to suggest she search through the
huge pile of shells I had found in the opposite direction she asked,
“What happens to the younger crab if the older crab that lived there
was mean?”
I asked her why she wondered that and she replied, “If the old crab
was mean and lived there first, would that make the new crab mean
because of the feelings left behind by the old crab?”
I told myself she was not implying anything by her question other
than childhood curiosity and concern for the smaller and weaker of
the food chain but something in her statement made me uncomfortable.
We walked on…
A few minutes later we found a set of footprints in the sand. (Yes,
it always reminds me of the poem…) She attempted to walk in and
follow the footprints left in front of us. It was funny to watch
her-these prints were obviously made by a large man and they were
much too large for her. I have to say she did a good job of keeping
up with the stride it had taken to make them. As we walked forward
she came around behind me and walked in my footprints. I smiled and
then a sullenness came over me as I recalled her question about the
Hermit crabs passing down feelings onto the next to come along. I
thought about my father lying in his bed back at the house.
What
footprints had been made for me to follow in life? Which were the
prints I followed out of obligation, dysfunctional behavior, pride
and choice?
I thought of my childhood and how often I had prayed to move into
another “shell” as well as how much I wanted the ocean to wipe out
the prints I was told I had to follow. All of a sudden with my
father dying I found myself desperately wanting to remember all of
it.
As I
watched my new little friend (so much for alone time) I wondered
about my life and how I affect the lives of others. Were my tracks
also too large for my children? What set of footprints was I
creating and leaving for others to come upon, walk in or follow?
What impressions was I making and leaving in a Hermit shell for the
next who came along?
My “alone
time” at the beach was almost over. I looked at my new little
friend and smiled at her and the “before her time” wisdom she had
brought to me and thanked her for the company. It was time to get
back in the car and head back to reality.
In that
“a-ha” moment on the beach is where my passion for Living Legacy
began to come to life. I took to heart the opportunity to really
discover what legacies had been handed down to me as well as what I
was handing down to others.
It also has
come to dawn on me that legacy is not only just a family
relationship or an awareness that results from death or endings. It
begins with conscious choices from right now, which the whole world
is already seeing. Legacy begins with reputations. The way I think,
speak and feel of others here in my life, those that have briefly
touched my life and those that have gone reflect a combination of my
legacy and theirs. Just as an extreme example; how do people speak
today about Jesus of Nazareth, John Lennon, a favorite 3rd
grade teacher and Grandma Jeannie?
Legacy is
not just for the past or the dying. My little friend from the beach
showed me that. Part of her legacy which she will never know, is how
coming together that day altered the path I am to walk down for the
rest of my life. A path filled with glorious heights, humble
generosity, birth, rebirth and most importantly: catalytic
inspiration. This is what I bring to those I love as well as those I
work with in hand crafting personal legacies.
Thanks to
my “intruder” on the beach, I have recommitted to God and myself to
do every thing I can to leave humble footprints (or Hermit shells)
of purpose, opportunities, humanity and generosity for all those I
know, will know or will never know.
What is
your definition of Legacy?
What
impressions are you creating for yourself and the world?
“We have
no choice of what color we're born or who our parents are or whether
we're rich or poor. What we do have is some choice over what we make
of our lives once we're here.”
- Mildred
D. Taylor
I am always
available for coaching assistance if you have questions. Just e-mail
me:
Elizabeth@agapelegacycoach.com.
Live Gloriously,
Legacy
Strategist
"Working with ideal clients in defining and designing Legacies of
Excellence"
Phone: 678-580-2222
"We are
what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a
habit." Aristotle
Are you living the rewards of personal
excellence? Click
here
to use the Free Goals Report and take the Coaching Challenge!
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Andy Wibbels is your "Blog" expert as well having one of the best sense of
humors I've heard in a while. "Blog" is a word that Webster even added to
their dictionary last year as well as ABC's Nightline just did a special
report on how this practical and powerful form of virtual communication is
growing by leaps and bounds as a way of affordable marketing, alternative
websites and virtual personal opinion pages. Here is Andy's take on the
blogging world: