by Certified Speaking Professional, Michael Scott Karpovich As we strive to empower ourselves and others to leave a legacy, we must recognize that we don't live forever! If we possess a far-sighted perspective of our lives, we eventually face our own mortality. In facing our own mortality, we feel a sense of urgency to create something with maximum impact and lasting value. Problems arise if we wait too long to think about our finite earthly existence. We must begin now to design our lives and our legacies if we wish to achieve and leave something durable and memorable. Think about the world’s greatest leaders. Many of them began designing their destinies early in life. They came to the conclusion that life is short and in doing so, decided to impact their world with something of lasting value. Too many of our contemporary problems come about because not enough of us are far-sighted. Therefore, you and I must design our legacy now. Sometimes, though, some of our greatest legacies happen by "accident"...quite unplanned by us but determined somehow by something or Someone greater than ourselves. An example of this is my mother, who as a bacteriologist, discovered a mold in her petri dish that is still used by Kraft Foods today to make cheese. Even more dramatic is my father’s failed invention at Dow Chemical Company that accidentally filled Styrofoam with water. Now when anyone arranges flowers in "Floral Foam," they are witnessing one of my father’s "accidental" legacies! Even the unplanned "accidents" in our lives can have positive results that benefit future generations in ways we never dreamed. Where can you make your greatest impact? When someone asked the lead singer of Aerosmith what his mission in life was, he responded, "I write songs that I love and I play them for people who love them and the best I can hope for is to leave a footprint... some kind of footprint so others know I passed this way." How will people know you passed this way? Will it be because you created a message that you love, for people who love to hear your message and for people who continue to remember that message? I spoke with a man the other day while traveling through Ohio and he told me his greatest legacy would be his children. Indeed, our children will live on as treasured testaments to the time, dedication and love we invested in their lives and ultimately, to the world they will contribute to. I never want to downplay the powerful legacy of family. Nevertheless, I must ask where else do you intend to contribute? One of my dearest friends once told me her goal was to get married and have a family. Shortly after she had reached all of her goals, I found her depressed and asking, "What else is there for me?" Sometimes we work very diligently on and devote great energy to prized personal projects, assuming that our creations will last forever but in the end, the final result either quickly fades or never comes to fruition. With my parents in their mid-70’s now, I have watched many of their dreams develop and grow over the years and yet now, I cry with them as some of those dreams were never fully realized. The ruins of the unfinished cottage they started in the orchard are now being torn down to prevent anyone from getting hurt. As we build our dreams, perhaps we need to keep in mind that only God will decide which ones will last long after we do. I believe that we all leave legacies -- some positive and some negative. Our task and our prayer is to make the positive ones last and the negative ones fade! When you really think about it, there are only two types of people in the world...contributors and takers. Some people always want to give back to their family, their friends, their community, and the world... they are contributors. On the other hand, you and I have both met the type of person that always seems to be asking, "What’s in it for me?" These people are takers. Takers don’t ever get ahead for too long... they often end up living normal lives, having normal relationships, working normal jobs for normal pay, and at the end of their normal lives, they put a normal stone at the head of their normal grave that no one ever bothers to read. The contributor, on the other hand, doesn’t just leave tombstones; he or she leaves legacies that last long beyond their time on this earth. My most genuine wish for you, my friend, is that you will take the tools that you have been given, choose the road of the contributor and leave your legacy!

Copyright © 2000 Michael Scott Karpovich 
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