Will You Be Satisfied With Your Eulogy?

You’re dead.

You’ve breathed your last breath, had your last kiss, and felt your last hug.

Let that sink in. You’re gone, but your loved ones remain. They’re all gathering at your funeral, ready to say goodbye to you.

Someone from the crowd steps up to the mic. It could be your wife, your best friend, your brother or sister. It may even be your mom or dad.

What do you want them to say about you?

“Nick was ___________, ____________, and ____________. He loved ________, _________, and __________. He was a _________ husband, _____________ friend, and ___________  man.”

Take the time to fill in those blanks for yourself. What you’ve done is outline how you want to live and who you want to be.

Mine would hopefully sound something like this:

“Nick was thoughtful, hard-working and caring. He loved his wife, his family, and his friends. He was a dedicated husband, loyal friend, and an incredible man.”

I know that when it’s all said and done, that’s how I want to be remembered. Since I’m aware of how I want to be recognized when my time’s up, I will know how to live so that my life reflects that.

If you can’t seem to create goals in your life or are struggling to figure out why you’re here, try this simple practice of envisioning your eulogy. It may be a touch morbid, but it’s a useful exercise.

What do you want to be said? How do you want the people in the room to remember you?

You’re not going to want them to ramble on about your occupation. You’re wealth and salary certainly won’t be on their mind on that day. They will be thinking about you as a person. They will remember how you treated them and others. They will recall how you lived your life with all that you had.

We all get caught up in the stresses of money, status, and climbing the social and economic ladder. We’re all victim to trying to keep pace with the rat race.

That race doesn’t show up to your funeral. What shows up is how compassionate you were, how much you gave and how well you lived.

Take the time to figure out what you want your legacy to look like. Once you’ve figured that out, act accordingly, starting today. Chances are your funeral is way off in the distance. But imagine what it would be like if you embodied how you want to be remembered from now until then?

Why wait to be the person you want to be?

Until next time,

Nick