legacy

i rarely make posts two days in a row, but i haven't been hit with something to write about this much in a while.

sometimes i get the feeling that i'm going to be one of those people whose life gets cut short too early. i don't mean that in a pessimistic, depressing way (there IS another way, believe it!) but i mean it in a way that i'm aware of the possibility that any drive to work could be my last; my next soccer game could be my last; this blog could be my last. let's face it, life comes at us fast and sometimes it's too fast for us to survive. i don't think that i'm going to die before i'm 90, but i feel like it makes sense to live life like i could go early.

so if you died today, what would people remember about you? what would be said at your funeral? what is the legacy you'll leave behind? i'm reading donald miller's new book, a million miles in a thousand years, and it talks mainly about how our lives are stories. he is recounting his life and realizing that he's done a lot of talking, but maybe not enough living. his earlier book, through painted deserts, prompted a trip to seattle last summer (and again this summer), but this one is giving me that motivation i need to get out there and make a story of my life.

most things that happen in movies don't happen in real life, as explained by moviemakers in miller's newest work. but that doesn't mean we can't get out there and try to do things that only happen in the movies. have adventures, take chances, juggle risks. no one's ever won the lottery without playing it. jack johnson wouldn't be on our itunes if he didn't write his songs down. bill gates wouldn't be one of the richest men in america without creating something useful for the world. michael jordan wouldn't be the greatest basketball player of all time if he'd had listened to his middle school coach who cut him.

to go along with the resolution i referenced yesterday, i'd say another new resolution of how i'll live my life is to make sure that everything i'm doing is either A) the most enjoyable thing i could be doing at the time or B) helping me strive toward a greater goal in my life. approaching every minute of every day this way should help create the story i want people to reflect on.