Legacy

I often wonder about the legacy I'll be leaving.  In many ways, I wish my legacy were more expansive--my influence is rather limited, and I'm not quite sure just how the people I've affected even see what I've passed on to them.  When all is said and done, of course, none of that matters--what will matter on the day I die will be how I feel about what I've given to life and the people in it, and what others have gotten from me as a result of my giving.

But I'm a member of my society, and as a society, we really do seem to have stopped paying attention to things like leaving legacies for our young people, doing things that we can offer with pride to them, things that will contribute in positive ways to the world that they live in and will live in after we're gone.  Heck, we're even destroying the planet they need to live on for the rest of their lives and yes, that legacy is ours.  It belongs to those of us who have been around for a long time and who have continued to contribute to the status quo without making any changes in the ways that we do things that will make things better for our young people as they live their lives after we've departed.

Can I solve the climate crisis all by myself?  Of course not.  Can I solve the problems that we in the States have with a consistently growing number of mass shootings, especially in schools?  No.  Can I fix an educational system that is simply broken, and that is not adequately preparing most students for their futures?  Not on my own, I can't.  And even if I were to get 50 or 1,000 people together to work on the problem, we still couldn't fix it without the agreement of the state governments, the local school boards, the citizens of the country, school boards, and so many other groups that the task would probably never be done.

So what does that mean?  Does it mean that I can't leave a positive legacy?  Does it mean that I can't contribute to the world in positive ways?  No, it doesn't.  Because while my options certainly are limited by reality, I still do have options.  There are definitely legacies that I can leave behind on a very small level that may even have a strong ripple effect, helping the legacy to grow even after I'm gone.

I can leave a legacy of encouragement.  The more I encourage other people, especially young people, the more they learn the strength and power of encouragement, and the more likely they are to become encouragers themselves.  I can leave a legacy of hard work by providing a model of hard work that's balanced with rest and that doesn't take over my life and ruin relationships and hobbies.  I can work hard and still enjoy life, and that type of legacy is strong, indeed.

I can leave legacies of fairness, of compassion, of humor, of understanding, of appreciation, of wonder, of acceptance, of fairness--the list seems to be pretty long, doesn't it?  A legacy is what we leave as role models, and what we leave as laws and what we leave as realities.  I may not be able to solve the climate crisis, but I can drive my car less and put myself in situations in which I can walk or bike where I need to go.  I may not be able to solve the problems of violence in our society, but I can do my best to teach others to love one another and to respect one another and to never resort to violence as a way to deal with problems in life.

We're on this planet a short time, and we want to contribute what we can.  Most of us will never contribute in huge ways, affecting millions of people, but we can contribute in small ways that affect relatively few people--and still leave a legacy that is positive and lasting.  We just have to trust that when we do good, on no matter how small a level, we're contributing in the world in ways that will help others and that will make a lasting impression.  The world needs us to do good, and we can make our own lives much more positive when we do our best to leave a legacy that we can be proud of.