Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 20:51 — 12.3MB) | Embed
When I chose to write a season about goal setting centered around a classic car, I knew that the source of inspiration might not be the best vehicle to convey the principles of the season (pardon the pun). But whether you’re a car person or not, I hope that the lessons I found during my journey helped you in some way. Today I share feedback from community members Joshua, Andrew, and Seth, and what they took away from the season.
Afterward, I give a preview of next season, currently titled, “Legacy.”
Webster’s Dictionary defines Legacy as “something that is received from someone who has died.” Another definition is “anything handed down from the past, as from an ancestor or predecessor.”
While no one in my life has recently died, over the last year I’ve thought a lot about legacy. Specifically, I’ve thought about those whose legacy has shaped who I am, and I’ve thought a lot about what kind of legacy I will leave when I pass away.
To the best of my knowledge, I won’t be passing from this earth into eternity any time soon, but none of us know when our last breath will come. As motivating as that might be to cause one to contemplate his legacy, it’s a different life event that has caused me to focus on it. That life event involves my kids. That is, last year was my daughter’s senior year of high school, and this year is my son’s senior year. While I think Addi may continue to live with us for another year or even two while she works out her plans, she very much desires to move out when she can and spread her wings. Colby, on the other hand, has already started making plans to move across town to attend the University of Oklahoma next fall. It’s quite possible my nest will be empty in the next 12-18 months, and this fact has had me wondering if I’ve done what’s necessary to help my kids for their next steps.
Yes, I’ll still be around to help them in any way they need, but our daily meals around the kitchen table, random ice cream runs, weekend one-on-one outings, and other bonding moments that we’ve shared over the years are coming to and end. These are the moments I’ve leaned into to pass on my wisdom to them and have deeper conversations with them. As hard as I’ve tried to get it right and be the best dad for them, I know I’ve missed many opportunities and made a lot of mistakes. But to err is human and I know that I’ve done at least a few things right.
Still I wonder, what is my legacy as it relates to my children? Will they be okay? Furthermore, what about when I am gone? What will my legacy be then? Will I have made such an impact that the world notices? I don’t mean that they notice for my sake. I mean, will my absence be felt? Will I have indeed made the world a better place?
It’s with these ponderings that I set out to read books about legacy, search my thoughts about legacy, and talk to my friends and family about legacy. Over the course of these next 10 episodes, you’ll join me in these conversations and experience this journey alongside me. My aim is to not only help myself gain clarity on what legacy is so that I can get my legacy right, but to help you gain clarity too. I’m convinced that if we all think more about our legacy and what we want to leave behind, the world for future generations will indeed be a better place.
I’ll be back around the end of the year with these new episodes, but for now, I want to leave you with an excerpt from a book I recently read about legacy. The book is called, “The Legacy Journey” by Dave Ramsey. Dave says:
When we die, we’ll have two numbers on our headstone: the year we were born and the year we die. Those numbers are separated by a little dash. You don’t get to decide either of those numbers, but you do get to decide what to do with the dash. The dash represents your life. Everything you have ever done or will do is represented by that little dash on your headstone. What are you going to do with your dash? Your real legacy is what happens in your children’s dashes and in your children’s children’s dashes. That’s the inheritance Proverbs 13:22 talks about–the impact you have not just on your life, but also on the lives that come after you. The good news is that you get to choose today what your dash will be, and if you’ve made some mistakes, you get to correct them. Even if you think you’ve run your life into a brick wall, guess what? Your children have a clean slate. Your mistakes don’t have to transfer to them. Your legacy might be setting your kids up to be the first generation to be debt-free, or to be free of several generations’ worth of emotional baggage, or to be free of whatever you think has gotten in your own way. You can choose today to put an end to wrong views and wrong behaviors that might have derailed past generations in your family. You can choose to do things differently and safeguard future generations to do things even better. You can choose today what kind of legacy you want to leave. Make it a great one.
I’m Darrell Darnell, and this has been Stuff I Learned Yesterday episode 584: Feedback on The Car and Legacy Preview.” Stuff I Learned Yesterday is part of the Golden Spiral Media podcast network. Join me on Twitter at GSMPodcasts, or Facebook.