If you want to get completely technical, here is the definition:
Main Entry: 1leg·a·cy
Pronunciation: \ˈle-gə-sē\
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural leg·a·cies
Etymology: Middle English legacie office of a legate, bequest, from Anglo-French or Medieval Latin; Anglo-French, office of a legate, from Medieval Latin legatia, from Latin legatus
Date: 15th century
1 : a gift by will especially of money or other personal property : bequest
2 : something transmitted by or received from an ancestor or predecessor or from the past
So according to Webster (www.merriamwebster.com), a legacy is something you leave behind after you die, for those who will follow you life on this earth. I guess we pretty much already knew all this, but I wanted to build a good foundation before I dive into what I really want to say.
As a teenager and young adult, I spent a lot of time mulling over this very question. What kind of mark will I leave behind? What will be my legacy. I am a thinker, an analytical mind, so this was a very loaded question for me. I had a feeling that I was on this earth for a very special reason. I knew I was born to do something HUGE, but what was it?
I struggled with these thoughts for years, even to the point of depression. Every time I didn't quite meet a goal, or I was set back in some seemingly huge way, I would fall apart. I thought that surely my legacy had been flushed down the toilet and I was to now start again from square one. It got so bad at one point that I began to feel stuck in a rut and I had no idea what to do with myself. Sure, breakthroughs would come, and sometimes in HUGE and amazing way, but then I would always seem to end up back where I started. That is sort of what tends to happen when you are chasing something with all your heart, only you don't really know what it is that you are chasing...
I remember the day that woke me up. It was February 5, 2005. I was in my little apartment at the Verandas (remember those days Bible School students??) and I had just woken up after sleeping in on a lazy Saturday morning. I have made plans to go shopping with my bestie that afternoon, so I jumped in the shower to get ready. Once I got out and was ready to leave, I noticed that I had missed a call on my cell. Several calls in fact. All from my bestie that I was just going out to meet up with.
Immediately I called her back. I knew it must be serious because she would never call me like that unless something has happened. It seemed like the phone rang for an eternity, but when she finally answered, all I could hear was deep sobs and then I lost the connection. My first thought was that she was in a car accident or something. My mind went crazy. Then my phone rang, and it was her calling me back. "Hello..."
That fateful conversation changed my life forever. Someone we loved and cared for deeply had passed away instantly that morning in a tragic airplane crash. A week later I found myself attending a memorial service I never once thought I would have to attend. It was a terrible loss for myself and everyone I knew.
As the days and months passed, we moved on with our lives and the pain subsided. I slowly began to remember the good things... the great things. This person had changed my life in a way that no one else could have. When I was having trouble with my Dad (LONG story) he took me out for Father's day. When I began ministering in Albania, he took me under his wing and showed me everything I know. This man made a mark on my life for the better (or best) and that will never be forgotten.
Will his name be written in history books?
Probably not.
Did he make his mark on the earth? Undoubtedly
Did he leave a legacy? Absolutely.
Sometimes I think that the most complex things in life are complex because they are simple. We, as a people, tend to make something simple into something hard, by over analyzing (I am so guilty of this) and by beating it to death with theory after theory, when in reality all we have to do is be ourselves.
What????
That's right. You want to leave a legacy? You want to change a life? Be yourself.
As children we all start out wanting the same thing: Love. The first day of Kindergarten is only intimidating because of the unknown: "Will these kids like me", "Will I make good grades?", "Will the teacher be mean?". That first day of school, all we are looking for is a little acceptance, someone to treat me as they would want to be treated. Uh oh, I think this is going somewhere now...
So, to wrap this up before it becomes a novel, how do we leave a legacy?
By loving one another. Pass that on to your friends, teachers, children and loved ones. See if things don't start to change very quickly. And you might say, "Oh, but you can't please everyone." That is absolutely true. But if you are in it to please everyone, you won't ever be a true leader anyway and therefore how could you leave a legacy that will ever stand out? Let your moral compass be your guide. Instead of worrying about what will please everyone, worry about what is right. It will NOT be easy, but you will touch lives for the better, and for every person that you set the right example for, they will touch others in the same way. If you look at it like that, we could change a generation in an instant. I would call that... a legacy.
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