Legacy - is this how you want to be remembered?

So many of us live life at pace. Responding to outside expectations and others’ notions of “normal.” Sometimes it can be hard to take stock. But ask yourself - is this how you want to be remembered?

A recent social media trend of “take my younger self to coffee,” inspired me to think again on this topic. I’ve taught it, thought about it, and processed it a lot myself as I came back, slowly, slowly, from chronic ill health.

Most of the Instagram reels that I saw had people feeling more compassionately for their younger selves, than they had been with themselves at the time. Perspective, years of wisdom, all helped. When we know better, we do better. Right?

But what if we do know better now, but are too busy to notice, or act? This is something I see a lot with clients, and myself.

With the “always on” pace of life in the West, many people have gotten used to a feeling of dissonance existing between their inner and outer worlds. Many of my clients say to me, things like,

“There has to be more to life than this”

“I’ll make a change when I have the energy”

“I don’t agree with this policy/relationship/change, but it’s how others have decided to tackle it”

“I don’t want to be the difficult woman to rock the boat”

It’s a remarkable time to be alive. Crises across climate, migration, all kinds of political hells ongoing in terms of war and women. It’s increasingly difficult to feel that we can affect any kind of impact or change.

And yet, quite simply, we have to.

For the generations coming behind us. We have to leave a collective legacy that gives them some hope. Personally, I want to be able to look my grandkids in the eye, and say that I tried to add my 2 cents. The little space of the world that I occupy, I tried to do something small in terms of my footprint, in terms of how I can help others, in terms of simple blog posts like this one, that state the obvious, but that nonetheless might inspire a ripple of change out there in someone, somewhere. A ripple that will surely grow.

Of course, we’re not here just to serve the big, macro level problems. We’re also here for our own development, and to love and help others. So I invite you to write your own eulogy. A micro and a macro one. Are you living in such a way now, that you will be proud of the legacy you can leave behind? And if not, what changes can you make to be living a life where you don’t feel a dissonance between what you really want and need ( your inner world) and what you are actually doing ( your outer world).

If we’re not proud of our legacy - then what are we?

Is this life you’re living how you want to be remembered? If not, let me help you find the change.