Legacy – what we build/create and leave behind – can be testament to our pursuit of our purpose.
Sometimes it’s inspiring on a grand scale – world changers like Gandhi, Mandela, Luther King Jr – come to mind, as do artists and inventors. Under the radar, beavering quietly away, unheralded, are the many bringing positive change in challenging circumstances. Aid workers, of many hues, are but one example. Undoubtedly, their work is fuelled by purpose.
What binds those in the spotlight and those not, and, indeed, all of us is surely a shared purpose to keep building, in whatever way we can each contribute, a better world for all. A cathedral if you will.
And if we extend the cathedral analogy a little further it generally means we won’t see the job finished in our lifetime. Indeed the cathedral that is our planet will be unfinished for all the generations to come as we find something to perfect here, something to repair/upgrade there.
So, when it comes to legacy, rather than waiting to look in our rear-view mirror with satisfaction at our efforts we might take a different perspective. Considering consciously, in every moment, what we’re putting into motion. How each stone, placed carefully and with love, will contribute perfectly to the whole.
In doing so we will be living legacy in service of a greater good.