Inspirations & Connections | VIII. Legacy

What will we leave behind? What will our legacy be? Ultimately, I don't think it's up to us to say, but we can be thankful for those who have left us inspired in our own lives, whose legacies live on.

Community, and creating a sense of community, is so important to me, and to the world. In this series, taking a particular theme, I want to share with you some of the inspirations, connections and other communities which have enriched my life, in the hope that they may do the same for you too.

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As I sat down to write this week’s post, not really knowing what I might write about, I pondered a question: who has inspired me the most in my life? It’s a surprisingly difficult question to answer. I suspect that few of us could settle on just one person. As I wrote last month, people come and go in our lives. Some may walk with us on the journey for only a short time, yet nevertheless leave us inspired and uplifted. Many of the people who inspired me on my own journey are no longer with us, yet their legacy lives on.

Legacy is a word which comes with baggage. Some of us may have been left a legacy, even a small monetary amount, yet these legacies are tinged with sadness, that the person from which they came is no longe with us. Particularly for those who have been left a small legacy in their life, I can fully understand why they might want to look for something special to spend it on, perhaps something which will remind them of the person from whom the legacy came.

But what about our legacies? What will we leave behind? Not in monetary terms, although for some, that is a necessary consideration as the years progress, but how might we want to be remembered in the future? It’s not something we like to think or talk about. Why would we? We’re still here. We don’t like to blow our own trumpets, and quite honestly, even celebrating successes and achievements doesn’t come easily or naturally. In a funny sort of way, I think I’d like to be remembered for being me, warts and all.

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When I look back on life’s journey so far, I realise that it’s not just people that have left a legacy. It’s places too, and particular times and situations in which I’ve found myself. Sometimes it’s been particular experiences which have left their mark. As we journey forward, we carry all of these different legacies with us. Many people will never know the impact they had on our lives; how much they inspired us and the legacy which they left with us when our journeys parted.

Just as each person who came before left a legacy of their own, so we too will leave one for those that come after us. As I often say, we can learn so much from the past in a way which can ground us in the present, and provide us with nourishment for the journey ahead. We carry the legacies of the past alongside us on the journey ahead.

Often, we’re not always very good at saying “thank you”. I don’t mean those simple thank yous for holding the door open or letting someone pass (although some people aren’t good at those either), but those heartfelt “thank yous” which someone will treasure. How often do make space to thank those who have had the greatest impact on our lives? When do we find an opportunity to thank those who’ve inspired us most on our journey? As I wrote last week, technology has made this easier than ever, yet ironically, are we any more likely to do it?

I’ve always said that I don’t do any of the things I do expecting to be thanked, but a heartfelt “thank you” is always appreciated and treasured. Sometimes, we don’t always have the opportunity to thank people. Some of those who’ve left us the greatest legacy and unending inspiration have passed out of our lives. I hope that looking down from their clouds as Granny used to say, they can see what a difference they made, even if we didn’t have the opportunity to thank them at the time.

So, what will our legacy be? Ultimately, I don’t think that’s for us to say. We can only do our best, making decisions based on what we know at any particular moment in time. Much of the rest is out of our hands. But we can treasure the memories of those people and places which inspired us most. We can, if we’re able, thank those who’ve left us the greatest legacy, that in being supported and carried on our own journey through life, so we might do the same for others.

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