We all leave something behind every place that we go. You can’t move through a room or a town without having some impact on the people and the place. But you are the one who decides if your legacy will be positive, inspiring, or damaging.
Our actions reach much further than the single person we speak to at a store checkout or while waiting in a doctor’s office. Each interaction is like planting a seed that will grow and spread. You can plant a seed of hope that the person will pass along to others throughout the day and perhaps longer. Or you can infect that person’s mind and heart with negativity and anger, which will be passed on to others.
While it is essential to know and truly understand that each of us is ultimately responsible for our own actions, we must also realize that our actions can and do color the way those around us perceive a person, event, or place. It is human nature to make our decisions based on what we see, hear, and feel as well as what we know in our mind and heart.
As we get older, we tend to think more about the legacy that we will leave behind when we move on from this earth. But sadly, we forget that each day we are adding yet another stone to the shrine that will be our legacy. Each day and each action will play a part in how we are remembered, and the mark we leave on this world. Think about that each day as you speak to strangers, drive in traffic, or see someone who needs help. How would you want those people to remember you?
This is a lot to think about. Yes, we all leave something behind every place we go, and we have a responsibility to make sure its a positive one. Plus how we live our lives too, because when we die, we leave everything behind, good and bad memories and decisions. And we leave others paying the consequences too.