Create Something That Lasts
“The goal isn’t to live forever, the goal is to create something that will.” – Stephen Covey
The elixir of immortal life hasn’t yet been discovered. It may never be. While you can’t live forever, you can live a life that has lasting importance, a life of meaning and purpose as well as joy.
How?
You create something that lasts.
Parents do this with their children, the very essence of personal legacy. By bringing a child into existence, mother and father are presenting the world with a precious gift, a unique human being with potential.
This act is both loving and self-serving. And both are a good thing.
To love a child is a parent’s greatest joy. To ensure that the child grows, thrives and learns how to embrace life, utilize his or her talents and take action to help others and make a difference is to perpetuate the lineage, serve as an extension of self, and reap the rewards of paternal pride.
Artists, inventors, scientists, sports figures and writers also create something that lasts. It’s their passion and perseverance that shows up in their work and accomplishments, things that will be remembered and singled out for distinction.
Yet every person can create something that lives on. You needn’t be famous, at the top of your profession, incredibly wealthy or any other superlative. You do, however, need to put forth your best effort, live with passion and zest and in accordance with your beliefs and values.
The core of who you are – that unique combination of joy, intelligence, enthusiasm, talent, strength, compassion, love and helpfulness – will live forever. What’s said about you may be verbal or in books or other written communication. It may be a thought or fond memory.
What do you want to represent your life long after you’re gone? Rich or poor, man or woman, young or old, we each have the opportunity to choose what we create.
And we’re the only creatures that have this unparalleled gift.
* * *
See more on my website, suzannekane.net.
Want to get my free newsletter? Sign up here. I post highlights from my blog, my Daily Thoughts and more.
Photo by Nick Wilkes