Tuesday, April 14, 2009

How to Live Forever: Lessons from a Centenarian

Having recently laid to rest my great grandmother, I was pleased to see the impact she had made on so many people's lives. There was the personal impact she had on my own, teaching my cousins and I the virtue in being selfless, but as I looked around the pews of the church that seated my relatives I was able to see the genius that was my great grandmother's wisdom and charm.

She lived a life far longer than most, passing the century mark just this March, and while her time here on Earth was far and beyond what any of us expected, even more inspiring is what she did with it. Present were 5 generations of people she had helped nurture, mentor and develop into men & women. A living legacy that would carry on her life's work.



I share all this to make my main point. Creating a lasting legacy will be one of the most enduring and fulfilling accomplishment's of any gentleman's life. These legacies will far outlive our mortal lives, being passed on for generations.True, many of us think we will live forever and take little thought on how things will play out once we seize to exist. Such naivety breeds procrastination. A true gent seizes the day, living in the now, all the aware of the future.

A man's legacy should speak to something greater than he. Maybe it's a breakthrough on a grand scale such as Martin Luther King Jr., did with the Civil Rights Movement. Or maybe its a blog, chronicling timeless advice on the philosophy of a gentleman. Whatever it may be, it should be a withstanding testimony to its creator. An idea, moment, or event that defines him, providing gudiance for his descendants and others far after his life has run its course. What will your legacy be?

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