Hi Friends
Happy new month, hope the long weekend was a great one...
We live in a world full of people with unimaginable life ambition, drive and craze for success and wealth. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with having a life ambition to be successful in any endeavour you may find yourself. There is also nothing wrong in working smart or hard as some put it, to put food on the table, shelter and take care of your family. There are basic necessities of life that every human being craves for.
But while we are engrossed with the drive to make it happen in life, I would not want us to loose sight of what is really important. And I want to call it Legacy. My Encarta dictionary defines Legacy as something that is handed down or remains from a previous generation or time.
The mistake we make most times is to think that we must attain a particular position in life before we can leave a legacy, absolutely wrong. Funny enough, some of our past heroes and living legends whose legacies are hyped all over the world are and were people who set out to add value to the lives of others, whose priorities were to positively touch the lives of people thereby making a difference in their generation. It had and has absolutely nothing to do with position, origin or status.
You need to make a conscious effort and decision to impact the lives around you, focus on bringing value to the world around you. To your work. To your loved ones. To all of the communities in which you are involved. Nelson Mandela never one day desired to have his face on the tabloid or CNN. That was not his dream, his dream and passion was to see the freedom of his people and he gave all there was, his personal freedom and comfort were traded for the freedom of his people. He was after adding value to other lives. I assume we know the rest of the story… but today, Mandela is a living legend, he does not have to pay some media house to come and cover his shows so they could splash his face on TV and Newspapers. He has a quality life brand that was built on a selfless foundation.
Mother Teresa is celebrated all over the world today because; she had a place in her heart for the poor, her life brand stands tall and strong till date. Rosa parks, the African- American woman from Alabama, USA. Who stood against racial discrimination is celebrated today because she had a strong sense of purpose. Little did she know that today, Presidents, Congress men would stand in her honour and celebrate her as a symbol of courage against injustice.
I could go on and on, Martin Luther King Jr. is well known by everyone, he is remembered as well as a true symbol of courage against social injustice. History has it that one of the people who motivated him was Mahatma Gandhi of India. This man also facilitated Indian freedom from foreign domination. He swore to speak the truth and advocated that others do the same. The history of India will never be complete without the mention of Gandhi.
Do you want to know what worked for these people? There was no “Me first” attitude in them. Everything they did, their dream and vision was built on a selfless foundation. For these people, fulfillment and success could only come from adding value to people’s lives.
One thing is very important, if we must make a difference in our generation, we must have passion, crave and hunger to better the lives of others. In this we will find fulfillment and subtly build a life brand that will endure with a legacy.
Always remember that “You won’t be remembered for what you took out of this world; you will be remembered for what you left behind”.
Happy new month, hope the long weekend was a great one...
We live in a world full of people with unimaginable life ambition, drive and craze for success and wealth. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with having a life ambition to be successful in any endeavour you may find yourself. There is also nothing wrong in working smart or hard as some put it, to put food on the table, shelter and take care of your family. There are basic necessities of life that every human being craves for.
But while we are engrossed with the drive to make it happen in life, I would not want us to loose sight of what is really important. And I want to call it Legacy. My Encarta dictionary defines Legacy as something that is handed down or remains from a previous generation or time.
The mistake we make most times is to think that we must attain a particular position in life before we can leave a legacy, absolutely wrong. Funny enough, some of our past heroes and living legends whose legacies are hyped all over the world are and were people who set out to add value to the lives of others, whose priorities were to positively touch the lives of people thereby making a difference in their generation. It had and has absolutely nothing to do with position, origin or status.
You need to make a conscious effort and decision to impact the lives around you, focus on bringing value to the world around you. To your work. To your loved ones. To all of the communities in which you are involved. Nelson Mandela never one day desired to have his face on the tabloid or CNN. That was not his dream, his dream and passion was to see the freedom of his people and he gave all there was, his personal freedom and comfort were traded for the freedom of his people. He was after adding value to other lives. I assume we know the rest of the story… but today, Mandela is a living legend, he does not have to pay some media house to come and cover his shows so they could splash his face on TV and Newspapers. He has a quality life brand that was built on a selfless foundation.
Mother Teresa is celebrated all over the world today because; she had a place in her heart for the poor, her life brand stands tall and strong till date. Rosa parks, the African- American woman from Alabama, USA. Who stood against racial discrimination is celebrated today because she had a strong sense of purpose. Little did she know that today, Presidents, Congress men would stand in her honour and celebrate her as a symbol of courage against injustice.
I could go on and on, Martin Luther King Jr. is well known by everyone, he is remembered as well as a true symbol of courage against social injustice. History has it that one of the people who motivated him was Mahatma Gandhi of India. This man also facilitated Indian freedom from foreign domination. He swore to speak the truth and advocated that others do the same. The history of India will never be complete without the mention of Gandhi.
Do you want to know what worked for these people? There was no “Me first” attitude in them. Everything they did, their dream and vision was built on a selfless foundation. For these people, fulfillment and success could only come from adding value to people’s lives.
One thing is very important, if we must make a difference in our generation, we must have passion, crave and hunger to better the lives of others. In this we will find fulfillment and subtly build a life brand that will endure with a legacy.
Always remember that “You won’t be remembered for what you took out of this world; you will be remembered for what you left behind”.
Take Charge!
No comments:
Post a Comment