February | 2015 | mystunknown

[Singing] How do you want to be remembered, as a sinner or a saint, as a hero or a villain? Then think about the steps you take. How do you want to be remembered when we standing at your grave, on your tombstone, what is written? Think about the steps you take, you take, you take.

That is one of my favorite songs. It was written by the rock band Magic! for their 2014 debut album, Don’t Kill The Magic. The title is How Do You Want to Be Remembered and it talks of the decisions we make and take in life and the effect it has on us and on our social lives. In simple terms, it’s asking of the kind of legacy we want to make in life and to leave behind to be remembered by. That is what we want to discuss today.

Legacy in most English language references is about property or money that has been left behind for the next generation through a will statement. It can also mean something that has been handed down or left by a predecessor.

But in this context, it gives itself a new meaning. In personality terms, a legacy refers to how someone is remembered and what contributions they made while they were alive. That’s it! That is what a person’s legacy is.

So then I ask myself, what legacy am I building now? How do the people I relate to view me? Even more important, how do those whom I do not even know think of me? Unfortunately, many people today do not see these questions to be important. Some have taken up the kind of lifestyle in which they choose to do whatever they please at any point in time. “Follow your heart” is the standard of living they have chosen. In no way whatsoever do they want to take responsibility for their actions. Eeeerm sorry……. [Delete that]……THEY ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE AT ALL! Such ones have no purpose in life.

In recent times the numbers of celebrity deaths through suicide have been increasing. Every wondered why? It’s Emptiness. In their possession is all they could have ever wanted but in reality, deep down, they themselves know that they are naught but ashes.

Unbeknownst to you, a lot of others might have set their eyes on you, giving you 24/7 surveillance as if you’re the most wanted criminal in the world. Why? Here are a few: to be their mentor or godfather, to be able to determine whether to date you, or even to model whatever they do in their lives from the example you are setting. Weird huh? But that’s the truth. You can have a sterling effect on others without even knowing it.

I have been reading over the internet recently and I see shocking news of people spending hundreds of thousands of pounds and dollars for very shallow minded projects. Just so they can look like their idols! Humph! Why didn’t they give that money to charity…or even to me! Hehe.

What of you who are contemplating marriage or are even married with kids? You, I would say have the most pressure on you. Why? Well consider this: there is work to be done. Would you prefer to do it yourself or to delegate someone to do it? ……. Have you answered yet? Many people have developed and stuck to the idea of “do what I say and not what I do” mentality. What do I think of it? It makes no sense. Most parents today imprint that onto the minds of their kids. If you set the good example it will be very easy for others to follow than to tell them to do one thing while you go against your own principles. Your conscience will never allow you to freely discipline others because you are not a man of your word. They will grumble and when they can’t take it anymore, rebellion will sprout.

How would you feel if you were a kid who was beaten harshly by your dad for telling a lie and when the landlord came around for his rent, he hid in the bathhouse and told you to go tell him that he’s traveled for a funeral? Well, for me, I would have told the landlord, “My dad is home but he told me to tell you that he’s going for a funeral in our bathhouse!!” LOL.

In Magic’s song, there’s a line that says, “How do you want to be remembered when your children come to aid and they need some inspiration?” If I lived a lie, they will find it easier to follow my bad course than to make their own way or change the legacy I’ve left for them. But if the correlation between my words and actions was close, how relieving that will be! A beneficial legacy is what they will inherit.

I do not want to be a sinner and I can’t possibly be a saint. But this I’ll always remember: make good decisions for then your legacy won’t taint. If I should die today, I will prefer that I did knowing I was pleasing the one to whom my life truly belongs to. For then will my name, not be written on a tombstone which can be broken down in no time, but in his eternal memory. Why? A good name is of far more worth than riches, so said one who couldn’t live by his words. Well, I do. And so should you.