TIME AND TIME AGAIN
What Will You Leave Behind?
Start with the trail of breadcrumbs you’re already leaving
Originally published by grainofinfinity on December 21, 2019.
I wake up before 5 AM with a question burning its way out of my dreams. I’d like to think what startled me out of sweet dreams is a whisper from an ancestor’s grave. More likely, it’s Zena the terrier standing up, circling twice, and plopping down against my ribs. Still, behind my open eyes, trains are roaring down tracks in all directions, trains that won’t stop and let me sleep until both the question and answer arrive
A little question about why I’m here and what I’m going to leave behind for those who come after me. In other words —
What makes us immortal?
I think I have an answer.
A person is as immortal as their commitment to human dignity and value. What you own doesn’t outlive you or make you immortal — it only binds us to this earth. Your home, no matter how handsome, no matter how much you love going back to it at the end of the day, and no matter who lives there with you, is just dust when you’re gone.
Your legacy won’t be an inheritance. It’ll be the eternal memory of what you did for others, especially the things you…
