We share some ideas here on generating the legacy you want.
Article on ANZAC Day and aiming to be remembered well
I have seen 25 ANZAC Days but it was only this year that I saw its connection to my work . It is never too late for some of us!
It struck me, eventually, that Australia and New Zealand as cultures do understand the importance of remembering those who came before us and who made sacrifices so that we can enjoy our lives. Maybe we celebrate the wrong legacy – drinking in the morning and gambling? Or maybe it is a deep part of the Australian psyche, to have fun even in very difficult times?
What we consistently forget is that we too will inevitably leave a legacy – and it is less likely that it will be about the number in the inventory of our Grant of Probate (hopefully not a Grant of Administration of an intestate estate with the Government deciding who gets what based on a formula set by a civil servant).
Our legacy is more likely, in my experience, to be about what we taught people in our family, what efforts we made in the face of difficulty, what consoling words or advice or help we gave to people we love.
So, why don’t we make it easy for the people we love to remember that side of us? I have designed a booklet to help people capture these thoughts. Even better, why not ask the grandchildren to interview you and ask you their questions about you – do you think they will remember that? It can be recorded of course if you like that type of thing. We include some excerpts from the tool we have credited.
I was reminded of this by my sister who sent me a recording of our Dad asking our family about a day we had just finished on a family holiday – when I was probably seven, she was five and our brother a newborn. Just to hear us talking about what sandwiches we had and conversations we had was a beautiful thing. Wow, were we ever that innocent? Yet, there were also clues there for the adults we became…
We all have a million photos and videos of our kids now but an intentional Q&A has arguably even more power.
Why not make it a podcast or even a campfire? Do you think the elders in your family might enjoy the time with younger relatives and do you think the young ones could make it fun?
#beabetterancestor
