No
doubt as we approach the back-nine segment of our short temporal lives, we
start poring over the likely things that are past beyond our sojourn here. When our bodies start the descent toward the
sunset of its existence, we start worrying about what worthy mementoes to leave
behind for our progeny, things which will endure beyond the years after our
lives. We weigh and sift through about some
things fleeting, and about those that endure.
Fleeting because we live life in the flesh, but lasting because we
believe in a soul and an afterlife. Man
being an inextricably composite being.
We
are talking therefore about legacies to be bequeathed. Public officials and corporate bigwigs all
the way to presidents and heads of state constantly talk about them, prepare
for them, or gear their consequential actuations with them in mind. So why not the ordinary mortal man?
So
what should we think about during our greying years?
Many
of us would focus on non-material things, rather than the temporal wealth which
many view as not only petty and mundane but by their earthbound nature as
beneath bequeathing to beloved children or grandchildren weaned on noble and
mystical dreams. We constantly are
reminded that we should not leave much material wealth since they are prone to
spoiling the receiver, dissipate their passion and intensity for living, deprive
them of the purifying challenges necessary to make their lives more purposeful,
etc. But again we remind that man lives
life in the flesh with all its wants and needs, and the easier that process is
the better for him to think about his nobler goals and purposes. Expressed
differently, man is more able to contemplate at the stars if he is not
constantly looking on the ground for his food and sustenance.
So
with that in mind, we proceed to the task at hand. What should our legacies be to the
generation/s that come after us?
For
something more enduring and noble, we earnestly wish that the things we taught
them, the examples that we lovingly provided, would all carry over to them like
genes or DNA encoded in their very bodies and souls. For we believe that would truly be timeless
legacy. And we add the caveat that
defines our honesty, that everything we pass on to them we not only believe in
but that we earnestly pursued them in our own lives.
But
for more temporal legacies we can list a few.
Provision
of shelter, adequate and decent, is one driving concern of modern families
which lifelong pursuit eats up a good part of their time and resources. A crucial and necessary accoutrement for
living productive and decent lives, lives with integrity worthy of his kind. And many lives have been less than
commendable because of the dearth of good shelter, coupled and in tandem with
the scarcity of financial provisions for the family.
A
good many of us spend our productive lives in employment. From the start of our education we already
have conditioned ourselves how we can become good, loyal, and faithful employees. Of course we do not discount the fact that we
would prefer being employed doing things that suit our likes and disposition. Still many are employed concerned more about
what that employment brings to the family and its existence rather than how well
liked or adjusted one is to the employment.
Wouldn’t
it be a great legacy therefore to leave behind some business or enterprise that
our progeny can continue after? Many
current entrepreneurs started much like that, inheriting the business from
their well-provisioned ancestors. And
then on their own made the business even bigger and greater than before. Look around and you will see how true this is
in real life.
Molding
leaders rather than followers would indeed be a great legacy to leave. Being in business and striking on your own is
one surefire way to test not only one’s acumen and wits, but also bring out and
hone leadership qualities dreamed only by many.
Personally,
imagine this as coming from one veteran of various employment. If after years of employment, one engages in
economic activities on his own one then experiences a role quite alien, from
the learned perspective of an employee to that of employer. In other words, after looking at things from
one perspective, one suddenly opens a vista where one looks at things from the
other side.
A
chance to look at things differently, and more importantly, to complete and
round off the economic picture so commonplace in our lives today.
Get
a chance to see how the other lives, the other side that has so few select
members, and so uniquely privileged in many areas such as opportunities and
access to the many beneficial things in life brought by progress and
wealth. And thus a chance to live a more
fulfilled life.
For
most of us, Mother Teresa was the epitome and icon of personal sanctity, given
what she exhibited in her solitary life in the mean streets of India and
thereabouts. But I also find Bill Gates
as another likely example in a similar vein and on a grander scale. A philanthropist on steroids who can declare
with effective intention to an entire impoverished nation in Africa that he
will undertake to educate all of its little children so that they can
realistically hope for a better life for
themselves and their families. An entire
nation given the opportunity to live better lives. And now in terms of impact and efficacy that
is really something!
