Legacy is the Present

Legacy and remembrance go hand in hand, right? Well, sure, it's a look back. But it's in our hands to create our legacy while we're very much here. If fact, instead of focusing on how we're going to be remembered, why not think more about how we're going to live?

Susan Bosak, co-founder of the Legacy Project, says that our existence is based on four categories: live, love, learn and legacy. These essential pieces unfold throughout our lives, but it's in the second half of life that we look for significance in order to:

• show that we matter now

• create something that will last beyond our time

• connect us to others that came before us and that will come after us. It's through legacy that we can "...draw on the past and the present to touch an infinite future with our finite lives."

I absolutely love the last NY Times Magazine of the year that features famous and not so famous people who recently passed away. It's fascinating, inspiring and so moving to read about the obstacles they overcame and what made them tick. Their resilience and determination to make a difference is extraordinary. I wonder if they thought about their legacy as they lived it?

Bosak explains that we're creating our legacy through the choices we make and the relationships we build. Our legacy-in-the-making can make a huge impact now and be a big lesson for those in the future. Which brings me to Bosak's point of generations.

Generations are the avenue to connect to things bigger than ourselves.

We hear the phrase "live with purpose", but it's so easy to run through each day. We know that our parents and grandparents confronted a lot, but it takes an effort to unearth the challenges and choices they made and to learn from them.

I'll leave you with a few big questions to consider:

• How will you nurture your legacy?

• How many lives do think you'll legacy will touch?

• What will your legacy say about the life you're living?