Most
people think that it would be nice to leave money or property to their loved
ones when they move on to the next realm.
While that is truly nice and appreciated, I think it is far more
valuable to consider leaving behind a legacy of wisdom, values and principles
that can and will assist those who are still here to live a better and more
productive life. Teaching our
children values and sharing with them positive traits that will help them
become a better person, a better provider and even a better parent or worker is
important. It is like the tales or
stories you might have heard growing up that had a moral behind them and was
meant to entertain while it shared valuable lessons in an easy to remember
manner; such as, if you teach a person to fish, they will no longer need to
depend on you and they will not go hungry. The moral is do not continue to feed
someone, instead teach them to feed themselves and they will survive. I find myself
using this story in my business when I am trying to get a point across to my
team.
Money
comes and goes. People have
acquired great wealth only to lose it but values and principles are something
that once learned and honored stay with you forever. They become ingrained within the recesses of your mind and
re-appear throughout life as needed.
It becomes a reminder of your purpose and function and possibly even
speaks to the question: What am
I leaving behind that will be valued and appreciated?
I have
found in my own life with my children and grandchildren that when I hand them
something, it is appreciated only for the minute but quickly forgotten. It also holds true in business. Some of my team member’s struggle
trying to understand the various processes that need to be performed. When they are handed the exact
instructions, they take them lightly and fail to see the value of the project
in front of them, but when I insist that they make the time to read, ask
questions from various sources and practice their skills so they gain
confidence, they learn in a deeper way the value and reasoning behind the
process.
I think
by nature, many people are lazy and like to take the easy way out and have
everything handed to them. It is
only when we have to dig deep within our heart, mind and spirit and seek wisdom
and understanding that we are better prepared to complete the task or process
with a strong sense of pride and accomplishment. There are many processes that I have learned in my lifetime
that have been challenging but the more I was diligent with learning the
process and the steps, the easier it became because I understood the concept
and method or techniques behind it. If I took a half-hearted approach and/or
attitude, I failed, simply because I mis-interpreted the value of what I was
trying to accomplish.
“Everyone
must leave something behind when he dies, my grandfather said. A child or a
book or a painting or a house or a wall built or a pair of shoes made. Or a
garden planted. Something your hand touched some way so your soul has somewhere
to go when you die, and when people look at that tree or that flower you
planted, you're there. It doesn't matter what you do, he said, so long as you change something from the way it was before you touched it into something that's like you after you take your hands away. The difference between the man who just cuts lawns and a real gardener is in the touching, he said. The lawn-cutter might just as well not have been there at all; the gardener will be there a lifetime.” – Author, Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451
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